THE 


MYSTERIES  OPENED; 


OR, 


SCRIPTUKAT.   VIEWS   OF   PEEACHING  ANiD    THE   SACRAMENTS, 
AS   DISTINGUISHED    FROM   CERTAIN    THE- 
ORIES   CONCERNING 


BAPTISMAL    REGENERATION 


REAL    PRESENCE, 


ja  E  V.    JOHN    S.  *  S  T  O  N  E,     D.D., 

EECTOE    OF    CHRIST    CHURCH,    BROOKLYN, 


N  E  W-YORK: 

HARPER  <Sc   BROTHERS,  82  C  L  J  F  F-S  T  R  E  BT. 

1844^ 


Entered^  according  to  Act  ©f  Congress,  in  the  year  1844,  by 

Harper  &  Brothers, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  Southern  District  of  New-YtH-fe. 


PREFACE. 


In  the  following  work,  the  wish,  which,  at  the  outset, 
was  sincerely  felt,  to  abstain  from  controversy,  and 
to  look  at  the  subject  as  it  lies  in  its  own  elements  and 
in  its  own  light,  has  been  but  partially  realized.  Truth 
stands  opposite  to  Error ;  and,  to  make  their  contrast 
seen  and  felt,  it  is  often  necessary  to  present  both.  To 
this  the  author  of  the  present  treatise  has  been  almost 
resistlessly  led  by  the  force  of  circumstances ;  and  it 
will  be  readily  perceived  that  the  very  considerations 
which  induced  him  to  present  what  he  conscientiously 
believes  to  be  erroneous  views  of  the  subjects  which 
he  has  treated,  bound  him,  at  the  same  time,  to  present 
them,  not  in  his  own,  but  in  the  language  of  their  ad- 
vocates. He  has,  however,  endeavoured  to  quote 
fairly,  and  has  honestly  sought  to  put  the  theories  of 
the  authors  whom  he  has  quoted  in  such  a  light  as 
they  themselves  must  acknowledge  to  be  just ;  and, 
having  done  so,  he  has  busied  himself  with  the  theo- 
ries, not  with  the  men  who  hold  them.  Against  their 
views  he  may  have  spoken  strongly,  but  against  them 
he  has  said  nothing.  He  is  glad  to  concede  to  them 
what  he  is  desirous  may  be  conceded  to  himself — full 
honesty  and  sincerity  in  the  views  embraced,  and  a 
hearty  solicitude  to  promote  the  best  interests  of  the 
everlasting  Gospel,  and  the  universal  Church  of  Christ. 
He  can  feel  no  pleasure  in  supporting  even  what  he 
believes  to  be  vital  truth,  by  so  poor  a  prop  JB13  the  at-- 


IV  PREFACE. 

tempt  to  excite  prejudice  against  those  who  embrace 
even  what  he  beheves  to  be  dangerous  error.  Nor 
has  he  any  desire  that  the  views  which  he  has  present- 
ed should  stand  any  farther  than  they  stand  on  the 
basis  of  Truth,  as  revealed  in  the  Word  of  God,  recog- 
nised in  the  standards  of  our  Church,  and  illustrated 
by  its  own  inward  light. 

The  author  has  quoted  the  writers  to  whom  he  re- 
fers only  so  far  as  was  necessary  to  develop  their  pe- 
culiar views  of  the  points  under  examination.  This 
object  effected,  he  has  not  attempted  to  follow  them 
through  any  extended  train  of  reasoning,  illustration, 
or  reference  to  authorities.  There  is,  consequently,  a 
sense  in  which  the  present  work  is  not  controversial. 
It  does  not  pretend  to  be  a  special  answer  to  any 
other  work,  nor  a  full  review  of  any  other  treatise.  It 
is  rather  an  independent  exposition  of  the  nature  of 
the  Christian  sacraments ;  referring  for  authority  main- 
ly to  the  Scriptures,  and  showing  subordinately  the 
harmony  between  the  Scriptures  and  our  own  ecclesi- 
astical standards. 

The  reasons  which  have  influenced  him  in  bringing 
his  cause  for  trial  before  the  sole  tribunal  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, are  two. 

1.  In  the  first  place,  while  he  has  been  desirous  of 
writing  something  not  wholly  unworthy  the  attention 
of  the  more  learned,  his  chief  desire  has  been  to  pre- 
sent truths,  of  the  highest  importance,  to  that  far  great- 
er class  of  minds  which  have  the  power  of  thinking 
justly,  but  which  ordinarily  have  little  leisure  for  fol- 
lowing learned  research  beyond  the  Bible,  and  the 
most  accessible  helps  to  its  interpretation.  In  a  word, 
he  has  written,  not  so  much  for  the  learned  divines  as 


PREFACE. 


for  the  intelligent  laity  of  the  Church ;  while  his  hum- 
ble hope  is,  that  both  will  find  in  what  he  has  written 
something  worthy  of  their  serious  consideration.  To 
have  made  the  work  larger,  by  a  full  quotation  and 
examination  of  authorities,  had  been  easy,  and  per- 
haps, to  the  one  class,  useful ;  but  the  work  has  already 
reached  a  size  not  at  first  intended,  and  needing,  for 
the  other  class,  curtailment  rather  than  addition. 

2.  But,  in  the  second  place,  he  has  been  strongly  in- 
fluenced in  the  course  which  he  has  taken  by  the  in- 
creasing prevalence  of  views  which,  to  his  apprehen- 
sion, threaten  the  dislodgment  of  the  Bible  from  its 
true  place  of  importance  in  the  settlement  of  all  ques- 
tions involving  the  purity  and  the  vital  interests  of  the 
Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

We  see  coming  into  distinct  shape  among  us  the 
notions  that  Christ  has  left  himself  perpftnally  Incar- 
nate, through  the  Sacraments,  in  the  Lv.ng  Body  of 
the  Visible  Church  ;  and  that  He  now  dispenses  the 
gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  not  by  imparting  them  direct- 
ly to  the  individual,  who  privately  studies  or  publicly 
hears  the  truths  of  the  Word,  or  who,  independently 
of  all  outward  ordinances,  seeks  those  gifts  in  secret 
and  believing  prayer,  but  by  having,  once  for  all,  de- 
posited those  gifts  in  the  hands  of  His  Apostles  alone, 
to  be  by  them  handed  down  through  successors,  and 
by  successors,  through  Sacraments,  to  the  Body  of  the 
Church.  Now  these  are  notions  which  can  never  be 
plausibly  sustained  but  by  aids  extraneous  to  the 
Scriptures  themselves  ;  in  other  words,  by  later  Tra- 
dition. It  is  impossible  to  find  adequate  support  for 
such  views  in  the  Word  of  God.  They  are  in  conflict 
with  that  Divine  standard.  They  must  virtually  ap- 
A2 


VI  PREFACE. 

peal  from  it  to  another  Rule.  It  is  evident,  therefore, 
that  just  so  far  as  such  notions  prevail,  the  Scriptures 
must  be  sinking  in  the  practical  esteem  both  of  clergy 
and  of  laity ;  while  Tradition  simultaneously  rises  to 
the  rank  of  virtually  Supreme  Judge  and  Arbiter  in 
all  the  most  important  questions  which  can  affect  the 
purity  of  the  Church  and  the  Gospel,  or  the  destinies 
of  Christ's  kingdom  on  earth.  On  the  theory  which 
the  above  notions  involve,  the  ministry  of  the  Church 
holds  a  prerogative,  which,  as  our  nature  is  constitu- 
ted, can  never  be  safe  in  human  hands  ;  which  has  ever 
proved  the  means  of  the  most  crushing  Spiritual  Des- 
potism ;  and  which  must  always  force  its  upholders 
into  greater  and  greater  departures  from  the  simplici- 
ty of  the  Gospel,  into  the  corruptions  of  error. 

It  is  nothing  else  than  the  secret  power  of  this  the- 
ory which  is  now  driving  so  large  a  portion  of  the 
English  Church,  and  which  may  soon  be  seen  driving 
a  corresponding  portion  of  our  own,  into  the  startling 
doctrine  of  ^^  Development^^  a  doctrine  which  rests  on 
the  acknowledged  silence,  and  even  repugnancy  of 
the  Scriptures,  and  of  primitive  Tradition,  in  regard 
to  certain  matters  both  of  faith  and  of  practice,  noto- 
riously and  undeniably  prevalent  in  the  middle  and  la- 
ter ages  of  the  Church  ;  and  which,  so  far  as  it  is  found 
within  our  Protestant  Episcopal  Communion,  is  con- 
fessedly derived  from  those  modern  Romish  theorists, 
De  Maistre  and  Mohler,  and  was  invented  by  them  in 
defense  of  the  monstrous  errors  of  the  Papal  Suprem- 
acy, the  Worship  of  Saints  and  Angels,  of  Images  and 
the  Virgin  Mary,  Indulgences,  Purgatory,  and  Tran- 
substantiation  itself 

This  doetriR^  or  theory,  or  philosophy  of  "  Develop' 


PREFACE,  ^ii 

mentT  consists  in  maintaining  that  Christianity  is  a 
progressive  system ;  that  it  existed  at  first  in  an  im- 
perfect germ  only ;  that  it  has  innate  tendencies  to 
growth,  to  gradual  self-development  -,  and  that  hence, 
those  doctrines  and  practices  of  Mediaeval  Christian- 
ity, of  which  the  Bible  and  primitive  antiquity  know 
nothing,  or  which  they  know  only  to  condemn,  are 
but  the  results  of  this  tendency  to  self-development. 
They  are  but  the  germ  expanded  into  the  tree. 

Upon  the  frightful  tendency  of  this  theory  to  put  ar- 
guments into  the  mouth  of  the  infidel,  who  contends 
that  Christianity  has,  in  this  process  of  development, 
not  only  reached  its  full  growth,  but  also  passed  be- 
yond into  a  state  of  senility  and  decay — and  upon  its 
equally  frightful  tendency  in  favor  of  Idolatry,  Poly- 
theism, Pantheism,  and  even  practical  Atheism,  it  is 
not  necessary  to  dwell.  It  is  enough  for  present  pur- 
poses to  say,  that  the  natural  inference  from  the  doc- 
trine is,  that  there  never  has  been  either  Error  or  Cor- 
ruption in  the  Church  catholic  ;  that  these  are  the 
faults  of  heretics  and  schismatics  alone  ;  that  the  Me- 
diaeval Church  was  more  perfect  than  the  primitive ; 
and  that  Rome,  since  the  Council  of  Trent,  is  more 
perfect  than  she  was  even  before  the  4th  of  the  Lat- 
eran. 

The  notions  to  which  reference  was  just  made,  as 
already  gaining  currency  among  us,  of  Christ's  perpet- 
uated Incarnation  of  himself  through  the  Sacraments 
in  the  living  Body  of  the  Visible  Church,  and  of  the 
deposite  of  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  once  for  all,  in  the 
hands  of  the  priesthood,  to  be  dispensed  by  their  au- 
thoritative act  alone,  can  no  more  be  maintained  on 
the  ground  of  Scripture  and  oi primitive  antiquity  than 


Ylll  PREFACE. 

the  worst  errors  and  corruptions  of  the  MedisevaJ 
Church.  A  far  later  Tradition  is  indispensable  to  their 
support.  Hence  the  tendency  so  perceptible  to  mag- 
nify the  authority  of  the  later/a^/ters,  as  they  are  call- 
ed ;  to  make  citations  from  their  writings,  and  to  revive 
among  us  the  credit  of  their  names.  The  system  on 
which  this  support  of  doctrines  and  practices  rests,  car- 
ries within  it,  indeed,  a  tendency  to  self-development. 
It  is  ceas(^lessly  pushing  itself,  and  forcing  its  support- 
ers farther  and  farther  upon  the  grounds  of  Tradi- 
tion ;  and,  with  every  step  in  its  movement,  is  more 
and  more  effectually  losing  sight  of  the  only  true  and 
tenable  ground  of  Scripture.  Every  year  that  this 
movement  is  followed,  will  the  study  of  the  Bible  be 
diminished,  and  that  of  the  authors  of  the  Middle  Age 
be  increased.  Nor  need  we  bo  surpi-ised  to  find  our- 
selves, at  no  distant  day,  verging  close  upon  a  period 
when  the  Bible  will  indeed  be  known  in  name,  but  in 
little  more  than  name,  as  a  book  which  the  subtle  phi- 
losophy of  development  has  learned  to  construe  into  at 
least  a  toleration  of  its  progressively  monstrous  con- 
ceptions. 

In  the  midst  of  such  a  tendency,  new  at  least  to  us, 
and  yet  already  sufficiently  perceptible,  the  resort  to 
the  Bible  alone,  as  umpire  in  the  great  questions  which 
have  been  examined,  was  even  peculiarly  proper.  Au- 
thority and  primitive  tradition  are  good  and  valuable 
in  their  appropriate  places  and  for  their  appropriate 
ends.  But  wo,  wo  to  the  Church  of  our  affections, 
should  she  ever  allow  a  fondness  for  the  authority  and 
traditions  of  later  ages  to  allure  her  by  degrees  away 
from  her  past  reverence  for  the  Bible  alone  as  her 
rule  of  faith.     She  will  be  drawn  thereby  into  mists 


PREFACE.  IX 

and  darkness  through  which  her  passage  will  be  as 
perilous  as  would  that  of  a  noble  ship  across  an  ocean 
abounding  every  where  in  rocks  and  quicksands,  and 
under  fogs  so  perpetually  dense  that  neither  sun  nor 
moon,  nor  yet  the  guiding  polai"  star,  could  even  once 
be  seen. 

As  yet  our  perils  are  new,  and  there  may  be  some- 
thing even  alluring  in  the  undefinedness  and  excite- 
ments of  the  solemn  future  before  us.  There  certain- 
ly is  much  that  is  attractive  to  the  human  heart  and 
imagination  in  the  awful  prerogatives  with  which  it  is 
now  sought  to  reinvest  the  ministerial  character ;  and 
in  a  religion  which,  arraying  itself  in  the  imposing 
forms  of  a  dim  antiquity,  professes  to  come  to  us  with 
a  sort  of  infallible  guide  to  salvation,  requiring  little 
more  of  its  recipients  than  profound  reverence,  implic- 
it obedience,  and  unquestioning  submission  to  the  pre- 
rogatives, the  prescriptions,  and  the  persons  of  its  au- 
thorized dispensers.  Nevertheless,  in  these  very  cir- 
cumstances opens  the  great  deep  of  our  perils ;  and 
the  forces  which,  in  combination  with  the  attractions 
just  named,  are  pushing  us  into  the  abyss,  are  the  ever 
restless  evils  of  an  age  prone  to  excitement  and  tossed 
with  change. 

Let  it  not  be  supposed,  from  the  remarks  just  made, 
that  the  author  is  of  the  number  of  those  who  love  to 
"  speak  evil  of  dignities."  Office,  even  in  civil  govern- 
ment, is  a  sacred  thing.  Its  authority  has  source  and 
sanction  in  God.  Much  more  is  this  true  in  ecclesias- 
tical government  Those  who,  in  higher  and  lower 
degree,  hold  commissions  from  Christ,  hold  specially 
sacred  things  ;  things  which  may  never,  with  impuni- 
ty, be  treated  with  other  than  the  most  reverently  re- 


spectful  regard.  Personal  vices,  indeed,  can  never  be 
justly  shielded  by  the  sanctity  of  office ;  but,  so  far  as 
Christ's  ministers  hold  their  commissions  in  clean 
hands,  even  their  persons  are  naturally  regarded  with 
somewhat  of  the  respect  which  is  due  to  their  office  it- 
self. But,  the  more  sacred  is  office,  the  more  sacredly 
should  it  be  guarded  against  all  stretch  of  prerogative, 
and  against  all  assumption  of  power  ;  especially  when 
prerogative  and  jjower  put  on  the  impressive  habili- 
ments of  spiritual  attributes,  and  stand  in  the  awful  in- 
terspace between  God  and  man.  Then,  to  stretch 
prerogative  and  to  assume  power  is,  either  arrogant- 
ly or  with  mistaken  aim,  to  abuse  office  to  the  worst 
of  purposes ;  and  since  men,  when  provoked  by  abu- 
ses, are  often  blind  to  real  differences,  such  a  course 
is  sometimes  to  invite  invasion  even  of  what  is  in  it- 
self sacred.  It  is  to  step  beyond  the  line  which,  with 
a  midway  limit,  divides  that  awful  interspace  whereon 
are  transacted  the  concerns  of  the  soul  and  of  eterni- 
ty.  It  is  to  get  nearer  to  God  than  to  man,  not  in  ho- 
liness, but  in  the  attempt  to  wield  influences  which  are 
never  safe  but  in  God's  hands.  Left  in  His  hands, 
these  influences  are,  indeed,  as  the  gentle  rain  and  dew, 
which  distill  only  to  fertilize.  But,  seized  by  the  hand 
of  man,  they  are  as  the  thunderbolt,  which  man  can 
not  restrain,  let  loose  to  do  the  work  of  terror  and  of 
death. 

O  for  the  spirit  of  uncommon  wisdom  and  of  un- 
common grace,  poured  out  upon  us  from  on  High,  to 
keep  us  safe  from  our  various  and  thickening  perils ; 
that  we  may  still  live  on,  abiding  quietly  by  the  light 
which  shineth  from  the  Word,  and  standing  simple  in 


PART    I. 

THE  DESIGN  AND  RELATION  OF  PREACHING  ANI> 
THE  SACRAMENTS. 


CONTENTS. 


PART    I. 

THE  DESIGN  AND  RELATION  OF  PREACHING  AND  THE   SACRAMENTS. 
CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTORY.      THE    RESULT,  THB   AGENT,  AND  THE   INSTRUMENT   OF  THE    NEW 
BIRTH. 

Every  actual  Sinner  must  be  the  Subject  of  this  Change,  or  he  can  not  be  saved. 
The  Holy  Spirit  the  sole  Agent  of  the  Change.     Divine  Truth  the  sole  Instrument 

Page  17 

CHAPTER  II. 

PREACHINO   THB   RIGHT   HAND   OF   THE    SPIRIT  IN    WIELDINO   THB    SWORD   OF  THE 
WORD. 

In  the  New  Testament,  the  main  Stress  in  the  Work  of  saving  Men  is  laid  on 
Preaching,  whether  we  look,  1.  at  Christ's  own  Ministry  ;  or,  2.  at  His  various  Com- 
missions to  the  Twelve  :  or,  3.  at  their  Action  under  those  Commissions  ;  or,  4.  at  the 
Language  of  the  New  Testament  Writers  when  speaking  of  Preaching  and  the  Sac- 
raments, whether  separately  or  in  connection  ...         ....  32 

CHAPTER  III. 

COMPARATIVE   VIEW   OF  THB    EFFECTS   OF   PREACHING    AND   THE    SACRAMENTSf. 

The  History  of  the  Church  corroborates  the  View  given  in  Chap.  II.  1.  In  Apostolic 
Times.  Bishop  Bev«ridge  examined.  2.  In  the  Middle  Ages.  Preaching  then  neg- 
lected and  the  Sacraments  exalted.  3.  During  the  Period  of  the  Reformation.  Arch- 
bishop Grindal  and  Queen  Elizabeth.  Hooker.  The  Power  of  Preaching  not  in 
Man,  but  in  God.  This  View  of  Preaching  discredits  not  the  Sacraments.  The  true 
relative  Position  and  Effects  of  Preaching  and  the  Sacraments  assigned.  1.  Preach- 
ing, or  its  Equivalent,  the  Means  of  our  Renewal.  2.  Baptism  our  Introduction  into 
the  Church.  3.  Preaching  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  joint  Means  of  our  Christian  Ed- 
ification     52 

PART    II. 

THE  NATURE  OF  THE  SACRAMENTS. 

BAPTISM. 
CHAPTER  IV. 

NATURE    OF   BAPTISM. 

1.  Erroneous  View  stated.  2.  Rests  on  a  more  fundamental  Error  touching  orig- 
inal Righteousness  and  original  Sin.  3.  This  latter  Error  stated  and  examined,  in 
the  Light  of  Scripture  and  ot  our  Articles.  4.  This  fundamental  Error  being  Refu- 
ted, the  Theory  of  Baptismal  Regeneration,  which  is  Built  on  it,  falls-  5.  No  moral 
Change  of  our  Nature  effected  in  Baptism.     Testimony  of  the  Church  Catechism    81 

CHAPTER  V. 

NATURE   OF   BAPTISM    CONTINUED. 

Consideration  of  Suggestions  arising  from  the  last  Chapter.  1.  Though  there  be 
no  Change  of  Nature  in  Baptism,  yet  may  not  the  Seed  of  the  new  Birth  be  then  im- 
planted ^  Examination  of  this  Point.  Scriptural  Examples  of  "  Sanctification  from 
the  Womb  :"  Samuel,  Jeremiah,  St.  Paul,  Timothy,  John  the  Baptist.  Scriptural 
Language  touching  the  Gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  This  Language  connects  not  the 
Gift  with  Baptism.  The  ordinary  Gift  goes  before  Baptism  in  Adults.  True  mean- 
ing of  this  Language  ascertained .  105 

CHAPTER  VI. 

NATURE   OF   BAPTISM   CONTINUED. 

Consideration  of  Suggestions  pursued.  2.  Did  not  God  at  first  create  the  Soul 
without  any  Means  ;  and  can  He  not,  therefore,  new-create  it  without  the  particular 
Means  of  Divine  Truth  ;  and,  consequently,  in  Infant  Baptism  ?  The  Difference  be- 
tween Creation  and  the  new  Creation  pointed  out ;  the  Latter  shown  to  require  the 
lastrumeatality  of  Troth.    3.  Does  not  a  Denial  of  the  Doctrine  of  Baptiimal  Regen- 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

eration  land  us  either  in  the  Heresy  that  Infants  are  bom  without  Sin  ;  or  in  the 
gloomy  Dogma,  that  no  Infants  dying  in  Infancy  can  be  saved?  Article  on  original 
Sin  examined.  The  Objection  considered  and  answered.  Difference  between  orig- 
inal and  actual  Sin.  State  of  those  who  die  in  Infancy.  Argument  against  Bap- 
tismal Regeneration  concluded Page  139 

CHAPTER  VII. 

NATURE  OF  BAPTISM  CONTINUED. 

The  Scriptural  Doctrine  of  Baptism  asserted  and  illustrated.  False  Canon  of  In- 
terpretation exposed,  and  the  true  one  indicated.  Examination  of  Passages  usually 
cited  in  Favor  of  the  Doctrine  of  Baptismal  Regeneration.  Their  true  Sense  elic- 
ited. The  true  Nature  of  Baptism  stated.  1.  A  Badge  of  our  Christian  Profession. 
2.  A  St/mbol  of  our  Regeneration.  3.  An  Initiatory  Rite.  4.  A  Covenanting  and 
Sealing  Ordinance.  Coincidence  of  these  Views  with  our  Articles.  5.  A  moral  Mon- 
ument to  the  Origin  and  the  Truth  of  Christianity.  These  Views  all  that  is  essential 
to  the  Beauty,  Value,  and  Efficacy  of  this  Sacrament.  These  Views  compared  with 
the  Language  of  our  Liturgy  and  Offices.     Conclusion 173 

PART    III. 

THE  NATURE  OF  THE  SACRAMENTS. 

THE   LORD'S    SUPPER. 
CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    NATURE    OF   THE    LORD'S    SUPPER. 

1.  Erroneous  View  stated.  The  Doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence.  2.  Examination 
of  Scripture  Passages  supposed  to  favor  the  Doctrine.  The  Seed  of  this  Doctrine 
planted  in  that  of  Baptismal  Regeneration.  Examination  of  John,  vi.  False  Canon 
of  Interpretation  again  exposed.  The  Chapter  refers  not  to  Sacramental  eating  and 
drinking.  1  Cor.,  x.,  16,  examined.  Does  not  contain  the  Doctrine  of  the  Real 
Presence.  Examination  of  the  Instituting  Words  of  Christ.  False  Interpretation 
exposed.  Idiom  of  Christ's  spoken  Language.  Traced  in  the  Old  and  iu  the  New 
Testament.     He  taught  not  the  Doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence    ....  851 

CHAPTER  IX. 

NATURE    OF    THE    LORD'S    SUPPER    CONTINUED. 

Remarks  on  the  Theory  of  the  Real.Presence.  1.  This  Theory  rests  on  the  Notion 
that  Salvation  depends  on  receiving  the  real  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  into  our  Bodies 
and  Souls.  This  Notion  shown  to  be  unreasonable  as  well  as  unscriptural.  Mediae- 
val Origin  of  the  Doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence.  2.  This  Doctrine  teaches  that  the 
Pardon  of  post-baptismal  Sins  is  conveyed  in  the  Lord's  Supper  only.  The  Falsehood 
and  the  Danger  of  this  Teaching  exposed.  3.  The  Real  Presence  of  the  Body  and 
Blood  of  Christ  in  this  Sacrament,  as  now  taught,  is  impossible.  Examination  of  An- 
swers to  this  Objection.  4.  The  Doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence  is  a  prolific  Error. 
It  is  the  Parent  of,  (1.)  the  Notion  of  a  Sacrifice  in  the  Eucharist  ;  (2.)  the  Doctrine 
of  Transubstantiation  ;  (3.)  the  Traffic  in  Masses;  and,  (4.)  the  Worship  pf  the 
Host.  The  Connection  between  the  Parent  Error  and  its  Offspring  traced  and  dem- 
onstrated.    Concluding  Remarks 300 

CHAPTER  X. 

NATURE   OF   THE    LORD's    SUPPER    CONTINUED. 

The  true  Scriptural  View  of  this  Sacrament.  1.  A  Divinely  obligatory  Memorial 
of  the  Death  of  Christ  as  a  Sacrifice  for  Sin.  The  Scriptural  Idea  of  a  Mystery. 
Language  of  our  Communion  Office.  Reasons  for  the  Memorial.  Not  Christ  in 
the  Memorial,  but  a  Memorial  of  Christ.  2.  Faith's  Mirror  of  the  Sacrifice  on  the 
Cross.  Not  a  mere  Memorial.  Office  of  Faith  in  View  of  this  Mirror  of  the  Cross. 
How  Faith  receives  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  then  as  at  no  other  Time.  Lan- 
guage of  our  Catechism  and  Communion  Office  on  this  Point  examined.  Does  not 
teach  the  Doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence.  Believing  in  Christ  the  only  Reception  of 
Him  possible.  3.  A  Means  of  Grace.  False  and  True  Idea  of  this  Means.  Lan- 
guage of  Catechism.  Preaching  and  this  Sacrament  are  Means  of  Grace  on  the  same 
Principle,  but  not  with  the  same  Extent.  4.  A  Test  of  our  Obedience  to  Christ. 
Scriptural  Claim  to  this  Obedience.  6.  A  visible  Badge  of  our  Discipleship,  and  one 
of  the  Church's  Means  of  Discipline.  True  Value  of  this  View.  6.  A  moral  Mon- 
ument to  the  Origin  and  Truth  of  Christianity.  Language  of  our  Articles  coinci- 
dent with  the  foregoing  Views.  Conclusion.  Sum  of  the  Treatise.  Office  of  the 
Bible.  Qrand  Symbolic  Mystery  of  Christ,  Hi«  Church,  ^nd  Hi«  Word.  T^ 
'Bintimy  (^  ^  Q^ujrch  nu^  be  the  u^Idios  of  this  ^yst£«t         ,       .       .144 


PREFACE.  XI 

our  allegiance  to  the  Gospel  and  the  Faith,  which  that 
Word  reveals  ! 

Whether  the  work  which  is  herewith  offered  has 
been  dictated  by  any  portion  of  such  a  Spirit  of  Wis- 
dom ;  whether  it  carries  with  it  aught  of  such  a  Spirit 
of  Grace  ;  or  whether  it  is  to  be  made  tributary  in  any 
degree  to  the  promotion  of  such  blessed  results,  these 
are  questions  which  must  be  referred  for  answer,  not 
to  the  too  often  blinded  judgment  of  authorship,  but  to 
the  good  providence  of  Him  unto  whose  disposal  the 
work  is  committed,  who  standeth  in  the  midst  of  His 
golden  candlesticks,  and  who  holdeth  in  His  right 
hand  not  only  the  stars  of  His  ministry,  but  also  the 
feebler  lights  thereof,  which  seek  to  gather  and  cast 
forth  their  beams  from  Christ. 

Brooklyn,  December  23d,  1843. 


THE 


MYSTERIES  OPENED. 

CHAPTER    L 

INTRODUCTORY. 

ON    THE     RESULT,   THE    AGENT,  AND    THE     INSTRUMENT    OF 
THE   christian's  NEW  BIRTH. 

1  Peter,  i.,  22,  23 :  "  Seeing  ye  have  purified  your  souls  in  obeying  the 
truth,  through  the  Spirit,  unto  unfeigned  love  of  the  brethren,  see  that  ye 
love  one  another  with  a  pure  heart  fervently ;  being  born  again,  not  of  cor- 
ruptible seed,  but  of  incorruptible,  by  the  Word  of  God,  which  liveth 
and  abideth  forever. " 

This  passage  teaches  several  important  things,  which 
ought  to  be  well  weighed  at  the  present  lime.  We  live  in  a 
period  when  that  branch  of  the  Church  to  which  we  be- 
long, whether  planted  in  the  Old  World  or  in  the  New,  is 
deeply  affected,  not  only  by  passing  political  events  of  an 
external  character,  but  also  by  a  tendency  within  itself  to 
re-examine  and  discuss  anew  the  great  principles  and  doc- 
trines of  the  Protestant  Reformation. 

My  object  in  the  ensuing  treatise  will  be,  not  to  enter 
with  the  fierceness  of  the  common  polemic  into  this  re-ex- 
amination and  renewed  discussion,  but  to  treat  directly,  and, 
as  far  as  possible,  practically,  some  of  these  fundamental 
truths,  which  are  widely  discussed  and  strongly  agitated 
among  us.  To  be  well  grounded  in  the  rudiments  of  our 
religion,  it  is  not  necessary  that  we  be  taught  them  amid 
the  din  of  excited  controversy,  or  that  they  be  held  in  the 
spirit  of  hot  disputation.     I  shall,  indeed,  refer  occasionally 

B2 


18  THE    christian's    NEW    BIRTH. 

to  human  writings  ;  but  my  chief  resort  in  what  I  am  to 
say  will  be  to  the  sacred  Scriptures  themselves. 

I.  The  passage  prefixed  to  this  chapter  goes  to  the  very 
root  of  all  practical  religion  in  man.  "  Unfeigned  love  for  the 
brethren,"  or,  literally,  a  "  love  without  hypocrisy,''''  "  fervent 
love  for  one  another  out  of  a  pure  heart,"  this  is  religion  in 
its  fairest,  most  perfect  development  on  earth.  Were  all  that 
claims  to  be  religion  really  imbued  with  this  spirit.  Truth 
would  have  a  safer,  as  well  as  a  warmer  home  than  she 
now  has  in  this  lower  world.  Pure,  holy.  Christian  love 
furnishes  no  soil  for  the  roots  of  Error  :  nor  does  it  ever 
baptize  Truth  in  the  waters  of  strife. 

Such  love  is  the  great  result  at  which  God  aims  in  all 
his  spiritual  discipline  of  his  creatures.  And  when  this  re- 
sult is  fully  reached,  the  soul  is  ripe  for  heaven ;  whether 
this  result  be  reached  in  early  childhood,  in  years  of  ripe- 
ness, or  in  declining  age.  Holy  love  is  religion  itself,  not 
the  process  by  which  religion  is  attained.  It  is  most  un- 
feigned and  most  fervent  when  the  heart  is  most  pure  and 
the  soul  most  sanctified.  Faithful  Christians,  while  obey- 
ing the  truth  through  the  Spirit,  "  purify  their  souls  unto 
unfeigned  love  of  the  brethren  :"  the  process  is  sustained, 
till,  sooner  or  later,  they  "  love  one  another  with  a  pure 
heart  fervently :"  and  the  more  exact  they  are  "  in  obeying 
the  truth,"  the  more  rapid,  as  well  as  eminent,  do  their  at- 
tainments become  in  this  unfeigned  and  fervent,  this  holy 
and  heavenly  LOVE. 

Since,  then,  this  love  is  the  grand  result  at  which  God 
aims  in  all  his  spiritual  discipline  of  his  people,  and  since 
this  love  is  itself  dependent  for  growth  on  growing  purity 
of  soul,  it  follows  that  the  purifying  of  the  soul  is,  in  the 
highest  sense,  necessary  to  our  enjoyment  of  eternal  life. 
Without  this  purifying  there  can  be  no  salvation.  Sin  de- 
files, and  reason  confirms  what  God  hath  taught,  that  no- 
thing defiled  can  enter  heaven.     "  There  shall  in  nowise 


THE   christian's   NEW    BIRTH.  IS* 

enter  therein  any  thing  that  defileth,  or  that  worketh  abom- 
ination, or  a  lie." — Rev.,  xxi.,  27.  The  soul  of  every  man 
guilty  of  actual  sin  must  be  purified,  or  it  must  spend  its 
eternity  out  of  heaven.  In  other  words,  as  every  man  is  by 
nature  sinful,  and,  if  he  live,  "  commits  many  actual  trans- 
gressions," his  moral  character  must  be  radically  changed ; 
must  pass  what  the  passage  before  us  calls  a  "  being  born 
again — of  incorruptible  seed  ;"  or  what  Christ  terms  a  being 
"  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit ;"  of  water,  which  repre- 
sents, and  of  the  Spirit,  which  effects  this  inward  renewing 
of  the  mind  :  and  being  thus  regenerate,  the  soul  must  grow 
in  its  new  life  ;  must  advance  in  sanctification  ;  must  gain 
strength  and  stature,  proportion  and  beauty,  in  all  the  gra- 
ces of  a  pure  and  spotless  nature.  As  the  body  has  its 
birth,  growth,  and  beautifying,  so  must  the  soul  have.  In 
its  natural  state,  which  is  always  a  state  of  sin,  it  lies  in 
the  blood  and  darkness  of  its  corruption,  with  merely  capa- 
bilities for  spiritual  life.  If  it  reach  the  period  of  moral 
action,  then,  before  it  can  actually  live  in  holiness,  it  must 
he  horn  of  the  Spirit.  Its  moral  character  must  be  changed 
and  made  new.  It  must  come  to  the  light  of  a  Divine  life. 
It  must  be  washed  from  the  blood  of  its  sinfulness  and  of 
its  sins  ;  and  then,  "  as  a  new-born  babe"  in  this  its  better 
life,  it  must  "  desire  the  sincere  milk  of  the  Word,  that  it 
may  grow  thereby,"  grow  strong  and  lofty,  well-shaped  and 
beauteous,  in  all  the  purities  of  a  new  and  heavenly  charac- 
ter. This  must  be,  not  because  man  says  so,  but  because 
God  says  so,  and  because  he  speaks  but  the  decision  of  his 
own  plain,  divine-eyed  reason.  Even  we  can  see  that  it 
must  be  so.  The  soul  in  its  sins  can  not  live  a  holy,  there- 
fore not  a  heavenly,  life.  Call  its  change  by  what  name  we 
please;  "repentance  and  faith"  —  "regeneration"  —  "the 
new  birth" — "  the  renewing  of  the  mind" — a  "  new  crea- 
tion"—  a  "  passing  from  death  unto  life"  —  a  "quickening 
from  a  death  in  trespasses  and  sins" — a  putting  "  on  of  the 


20  THE    CHRISTIAN  S    NEW   BIRTH. 

wedding  garment" — the  "  making  of  a  new  heart  and  a 
new  spirit:"  call  its  change  by  what  name  we  will, it  alters 
not  the  case  ;  it  must  he  changed,  or  it  can  never  live  with 
God  in  heaven.  If  all  the  teachers  on  earth  were  to  teach 
otherwise,  this  would  not  make  it  otherwise.  The  necessi- 
ty for  this  change  lies  in  the  nature  of  things,  and  the  char- 
acter of  the  immutable  God  and  of  his  eternal  truth  must  be 
altered  before  this  necessity  can  cease  to  exist. 

Nor  is  this  change,  thus  necessary,  merely  superficial. 
The  defilement  of  sin  is  not  like  an  unclean  garment,  which 
may  at  any  time  be  thrown  aside,  and  exchanged  for  clean 
apparel.  It  is  rather  like  impurities  in  the  hlood,  or  a  dis- 
ease in  the  hones,  or  an  inflammation  in  the  heart,  which 
must  be  cured  by  strong,  inworking  medicine.  The  defile- 
ment of  sin  is  in  the  very  soul  itself.  The  soul  itself,  there- 
fore, and  not  its  mere  outward  dress,  or  habits,  must  be  the 
subject  of  this  necessary  change  ;  must  be  purified  and  made 
whole  of  its  inward  diseases. 

This  work  of  purifying  the  soul  is,  of  all  others,  most  im- 
portant to  every  individual  man,  since  upon  this  depend 
all  the  results  of  practical  religion  in  this  life,  and  that  holy 
love  which  is  the  essential  element  of  eternal  life  itself.  It 
must  never  be  forgotten  that  this  "  unfeigned  love  of  the 
brethren,"  this  "  loving  one  another  with  a  pure  heart  fer- 
vently," which  all  real  Christians  obtain  while  "purifying 
their  souls  in  obeying  the  truth  through  the  Spirit,"  is  iden- 
tical in  nature  and  in  origin  with  that  pure  and  fervent  af- 
fection wherewith  they  love  God,  and  are  fitted  to  be  for- 
ever happy  in  His  love. 

II.  I  have  said  that  this  purity  of  soul,  this  holy  and  fer- 
vent love  out  of  a  pure  heart,  is  religion  itself,  not  the  pro- 
cess by  which  religion  is  attained.  The  passage  before 
us,  however,  touches  this  process,  as  well  as  the  result  to 
which  it  leads.  And,  before  we  enter  into  the  midst  of  our 
coming  subject,  it  is  of  great  importance  that  we  should 


THE    christian's    NEW    BIRTH.  21 

have  clear  ideas  of  that  process,  as  well  as  a  full  experi- 
ence of  this  result,  inasmuch  as  the  ease  with  which  we 
reach  any  given  end  depends  on  the  clearness  with  which 
we  see  our  way.  The  remainder  of  this  chapter,  therefore, 
will  be  devoted  to  a  brief  tracing  of  the  way,  as  indicated 
in  the  passage  before  us,  by  which  the  Christian  is  brought 
to  that  purity  of  nature,  and  to  that  perfectness  of  love,  so 
indispensable,  as  we  have  seen,  to  his  salvation. 

"  Seeing  that  ye  have  purified  your  souls  in  obeying  the 
truth  through  the  Spirit,  unto  unfeigned  love  of  the  breth- 
ren, see  that  ye  love  one  another  with  a  pure  heart  fer- 
vently ;  being  born  again,  not  of  corruptible,  but  of  incor- 
ruptible seed,  by  the  Word  of  God,  which  liveth  and  abid- 
elh  forever,"  or,  rather,  "  by  the  Word  of  the  living  and 
ever-enduring  God." 

Two  things  concerning  the  way  of  purifying  the  soul 
unto  unfeigned  love  are  here  specified  :  the  Agent  and  the 
Instrument  which  He  uses  ;  in  other  words,  the  Spirit  and 
the  Word  of  God. 

1.  The  Agent,  then,  in  the  Christian's  new  birth,  is  the 
Spirit  of  God.  Christians  "  purify  their  souls  in  obeying 
the  truth  through  the  Spirit."  They  are  "  born  again  of 
that  incorruptible  seed"  which  He  alone  can  implant.  He 
is  the  true  and  only  efficient  cause  of  their  spiritual  change. 

On  this  point  the  Bible  leaves  no  doubt.  When  relig- 
ious teachers  speak  of  other  things  as  "  sources  of  Divine 
grace,"*  they  mean,  or  ought  to  mean,  the  channel  through 
which  that  grace  flows,  and  not  the  fountain  from  which  it 
springs ;  the  visible  means  put  into  our  hands,  and  not  the 
viewless  First  Cause  that  operates  through  them.  Of  such 
causes  there  is  but  one,  and  that  one  the  Spirit  of  God. 
Our  new  birth  is  from  Him,  his  power,  his  influence.  Man 
does  not  renew  and  sanctify  himself.  By  nature  he  is  op- 
posed, not  merely  indifferent,  but  hostile,  to  the  change. 
*  Tracts  for  the  Times,  N.  Y.  ed.,  vol.  i.,  p.  6. 


2S  THE    christian's    NEW   BIRTH. 

Left  wholly  to  himself,  to  his  own  will,  he  would  always 
die  unchanged.  "  The  flesh  lusteth  against  the  spirit,  and 
the  spirit  against  the  flesh  :  and  these  are  contrary  the  one 
to  the  other."  —  Gal.,  v.,  17.  With  this  repugnance  to  a 
change  so  peculiar  as  that  required  in  Scripture,  nothing 
but  the  Holy  Spirit  ever  will,  or  can,  give  us  a  new  and 
holy  nature. 

On  this  point,  I  repeat,  the  Bible  suffers  us  not  to  doubt. 
It  tells  us,  emphatically,  that  those  who  "  believe  in  the 
name"  of  Christ,  all  true  Christians,  "  are  born,  not  of  blood, 
nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of 
God." — John,  i.,  13.  It  assures  us  of  the  absolute  necessi- 
ty, in  order  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  of  being  "  born 
of  the  Spirit." — John,  iii.,5.  It  is  the  glory  of  the  Christ- 
ian dispensation  that,  while  John  baptized  with  water, 
Christ  was  to  "  baptize  with  the  Ho/y  Ghost."  —  Matt.,  iii., 
11.  He  specially  promised  to  send  this  Divine  Agent  to 
"  convince  the  world  of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of  judg- 
ment."—  John,  xvi.,  8.  One  of  the  most  cheering  prophe- 
cies of  the  Old  Testament  is  that  in  which  God  promised 
to  "  pour  out  his  Spirit  upon  all  flesh."  —  Joel,  ii.,  28. 
Among  the  most  cheering  facts  recorded  in  the  New,  are 
those  which  show  that  this  promise  has  been,  and  is  to 
be,  literally  fulfilled  (Acts,  ii.,  1-18) ;  while  the  saddest 
records  on  the  sacred  page  are  those  in  which  the  perishing 
are  described  as  having  "  resisted  the  Holy  Ghost"  (Acts, 
vii.,  51) ;  and  the  most  solemn  warnings  found  there  are 
those  which  warn  men  "  not  to  grieve,"  "  not  to  quench" 
that  heavenly  Agent. — Eph.,  iv.,  30.     1  Thess.,  v.,  19. 

This  point,  then,  is  clear.  To  the  follower  of  the  Bible 
no  shadow  of  doubt  rests  upon  it.  The  Holy  Spirit  is,  in 
the  first  instance,  the  only  Renewer,  and,  through  life,  the 
only  Sanctifier  of  the  soul.  Were  it  possible  for  the  real 
child  of  God  to  deny  this,  even  he  would  be  a  living  proof 
of  the  truth  which  he  denied.     He  would  carry  within, 


THE    christian's    NEW    BIRTH.  23 

however  unseen  and  unacknowledged  by  himself,  signa- 
tures in  light,  which  nothing  but  the  hand  of  that  Holy  One 
could  have  written,  of  his  "  new  name."  Such  a  denial, 
however,  can  never  be  made.  Merely  nominal  Christians 
may  make  it,  but  not  those  who  are  so  in  heart  as  well  as 
in  name. 

And  yet,  though  this  Spirit  be  the  only  Renewer  and 
Purifier  of  the  soul,  He  acts  not  on  merely  passive  sub- 
stances. He  acts  by  inclining  living  spirits  to  action.  He 
infuses  not  holiness  by  quantity  into  a  motionless  soul,  as 
men  pour  clean  water  into  a  standing  vessel.  He  puts  the 
soul  in  motion  toward  the  attainment  of  holiness,  as  a  skilful 
master  teaches  his  pupil  how  to  acquire  useful  knowledge. 
Hence  the  peculiarity  of  the  language  of  the  passage  on 
which  I  am  remarking  :  "  Seeing  ye  have  purified  your 
souls  in  obeying  the  truth  through  the  Spirit."  The  Chris- 
tians thus  addressed  purified  their  own  souls  through  the 
Spirit,  even  as  the  Philippians  were  exhorted  to  "  work  out 
their  own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling  ;"  for  the  reason 
that  "  it  was  God  who  wrought  in  them  both  to  will  and  to 
do  of  His  good  pleasure."— Phil.,  ii.,  12,  13.  The  Spirit 
wrought  the  work  of  their  purification,  yet  the  purified  were 
themselves  alive  and  in  action  under  his  influences  ;  inso- 
much that,  in  one  sense,  they  purified  themselves.  The 
Spirit  wrought  by  inclining  them  to  work.  The  soul  be- 
comes holy  by  thinking  of  holiness,  longing  for  holiness, 
and  laboring  for  holiness  ;  but  it  is  the  Spirit  of  God  that 
moves  it  to  think,  to  long,  and  to  labor. 

Thus  far,  then,  the  way  of  the  new  birth  is  plain.  The 
Agent  in  this  divine  change  stands  clearly  revealed — the 
Holy  Spirit  of  God. 

2.  But  there  is  another  step  in  this  way.  The  Agent 
in  the  case  works  not  without  an  instrument.  The  Spirit 
of  God  does  his  work  by  "  the  Word  of  God ;"  and  He 
does  it  by  inclining  and  enabling  the  soul  to  "  obey  the 


24  THE    christian's    NEW   BIKTH. 

truth"  of  that  Word.  "  Ye  have  purified  your  souls  in 
obeying  the  truth  through  the  Spirit ;"  "  being  born  again, 
of  incorruptible  seed,  by  the  Word  of  God."  It  is  "  in 
obeying  the  truth"  that  the  soul  is  purified,  and  divine  love 
generated.  The  Spirit  brings  the  soul  to  obey  the  truth ; 
and,  in  obeying  it,  purifies  its  affections,  and  excites  the  ex- 
ercises of  holy  love.  Truth  is  the  great  instrument  in  the 
Spirit's  renewing  and  sanctifying  work.  "  Sanctify  them 
through  thy  truth:  thy  Word  is  truth."  —  John,  xvii.,  17. 
"  The  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  Word  of  God." — 
Eph.,  vi.,  17.  "  Let  the  Word  of  Christ  dwell  in  you 
richly  in  all  wisdom." — Col.,  iii.,  16. 

These  passages  show  not  only  that  Truth  is  the  instru- 
ment with  which  the  Spirit  works,  but  also  what  and  where 
that  truth  is.  It  is  not  mathematical  truth,  nor  philosoph- 
ical truth,  nor  physical  truth,  but  truth  revealed,  divine,  spir- 
itual. It  is  that  Holy  Word  which  tells  us  the  whole  truth 
about  God's  character,  the  whole  truth  about  man's  condi- 
tion, the  whole  truth  about  the  way  of  salvation,  the  whole 
truth  about  our  religious  duties,  the  whole  truth  about  all 
that  it  concerns  us  to  know  as  candidates  for  a  happy  eter- 
nity. In  short,  as  Christ  is  the  central  Sun  of  this  whole 
system,  and  has  called  himself  "  the  Truth,"  as  well  as 
"  the  Way  and  the  Life,"  so  the  truth  which  the  Spirit  uses 
in  His  work  of  renewing  and  purifying  the  soul  is  that 
which  makes  truly  and  adequately  known  the  character, 
offices,  and  work  of  this  Divine  Savior,  together  with  the 
love,  the  homage,  the  whole  duty  which  we  owe  him.  And 
when  the  Spirit  works  in  the  soul  the  power  and  the  dispo- 
sition to  obey  this  truth,  it  is  but  the  same  thing  vi^ith  work- 
ing in  it  repentance  for  sin,  faith  in  Christ,  submission  of 
the  whole  heart  to  him,  and  life-long  love  and  service  in 
his  cause.  It  is  the  assigned  office  of  the  Spirit  to  glorify 
Christ,  by  exhibiting  and  applying  to  our  minds  the  power- 
ful truths  of  the  Gospel.     "  He  shall  glorify  me,  for  He 


THE   christian's    NEW    BIRTH.  211 

shall  receive  of  mine,  and  shall  show  it  unto  you." — John, 
xvi.,  14.  And  when  men  pervert  the  Gospel,  they  are 
termed  ^^  false  teacliers''' — "  by  reason  of  whom  the  Way  of 
Truth  is  evil  spoken  of." — 2  Pet.,  ii.,  1,  2. 

The  truth,  then,  which  the  Spirit  uses  as  His  instrument 
in  renewing  and  purifying  the  soul,  is  the  Gospel ;  all  that 
body  of  spiritual  light,  which,  centring  in  Christ,  shines 
out  from  Christ  ;  all  that  constitutes  the  "  shining  in  our 
hearts  of  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in 
the  face  of  Jesus  Christ"  (2  Cor.,  iv.,  6)  ;  all  that  shows  us 
what  God  is,  and  what  we  are ;  what  Christ  is,  and  what 
is  our  need  of  him ;  what  He  has  done  to  save  us,  and 
what  we  must  do  to  be  saved. 

How  the  Spirit  uses  this  truth  in  renewing  and  purifying 
the  soul  is  a  different  question,  and  one  which  I  purpose 
hereafter  to  examine.  For  the  present,  I  am  concerned 
simply  with  the  fact  that,  strictly  speaking,  this  truth  is  the 
instrument,  and  the  only  instrument,  employed  in  his  work. 
I  say,  the  only  instrument,  because  the  Church,  her  min- 
istry, her  Sabbaths,  her  worship,  and  her  sacraments,  are 
not,  in  strictness,  instruments.  They  are  so  only  as  they 
hold  tlie  instrument  in  their  hands.  They  are  but  the  scab- 
bard in  which  is  sheathed  that  heaven-tempered  "  sword 
of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  Word  of  God,"  the  truth  of  the 
Gospel.  Unsheath — not  for  use,  but  to  cast  away — that 
sword ;  withdraw,  so  as  to  lose,  this  truth  ;  or  even,  in 
any  way,  virtually  deprive  her  of  the  Word  of  God,  and  the 
Church,  her  ministry,  her  Sabbaths,  her  worship,  and  her 
sacraments,  would  be  lifeless  things.  They  could  exert 
no  renewing  and  purifying  power  over  the  soul.  In  vain 
would  you  then  go  to  them  for  life  and  cleansing.  You 
might  as  well  go  for  knowledge  to  a  book,  the  covers  of 
which  inclosed  only  hlank  leaves,  without  the  imprint  of  a 
syllable  or  a  letter.  Except  as  channels  through  which 
the  Spirit  pours  God's  truth  upon  the  mind,  the  external 

B 


26  THE  christian's  new  kieth« 

things  of  the  Church  are  powerless  for  spiritual  good. 
Take  this  truth  out  of  them,  and  they  could  make  no  more 
impression  on  the  soul  than  could  a  man's  naked  hand,  or  a 
literal  sword  of  steel.  The  soul  can  not  feel  them ;  it  can 
feel  only  the  truth,  when  it  comes  through  them. 

In  this  strict  and  only  proper  sense,  truth  is  necessarily 
the  only  instrument  in  our  renewal  and  purification.  So 
far  as  He  uses  an  instrument,  no  agent  can  work  on  the  soul 
for  good  without  truth.  Truth  and  Error  are  really  the 
only  instruments  which  the  soul  can  feel. 

When  one  free  spirit  manifests  itself  to  another  so  as  to 
move  or  affect  it,  the  power  with  which  it  acts  is  evidently 
that  of  Truth  only,  or  that  of  Error.  Truth  and  Error  stand 
to  such  a  spirit  in  the  stead  of  physical  force  to  brute  bodies. 
Free  spirits  are  separate  and  distinct  beings,  and  can  actu- 
ate one  another  only  by  intelligible  moral  forces.  They 
have  no  physical  impact,  like  material  things.  They  strike 
not ;  they  wield  no  force  of  sinews  ;  but,  moving  in  their 
separateness,  and  charged  with  the  power  of  Truth  only,  or 
that  of  Error,  they  pour  into  each  other's  conscious  bosoms 
the  electricity  of  mutual  thought ;  till  each  becomes  roused 
to  all  the  vast  emotions,  activities,  and  free  shaping  of  its 
nature,  of  which  they  are  capable.  This  is  their  peculiar, 
their  high  prerogative  and  power  with  each  other. 

Keep  both  Truth  and  Error  from  a  human  soul,  and  how 
still  and  stagnant  it  lies  !  But,  tell  it  a  great  truth  truthfully, 
or  whisper  in  its  ear  some  glozing  falsehood,  and  how 
quickly  and  mightily  it  moves  and  acts !  Every  thing  that 
makes  the  soul  feel,  or  affects  her  nature,  is  but  Truth  or 
Error,  in  some  of  their  numberless  forms.  Goodness,  love, 
beauty,  and  all  other  right  things,  which  the  soul  feels  so 
keenly,  what  are  they  but  the  truth  of  character,  actions,  and 
objects  to  the  eternal  fitness  of  things  in  God  ?  And  wick- 
edness, injustice,  deformity,  and  all  other  wrong  things,  to 
which  the  soul  is  so  sensitive,  what  are  they  but  \\Le  false- 


THE    christian's    NEW   BIRTH.  27 

hood  of  character,  actions,  and  objects  to  that  same  eternal 
fitness  ?  In  what  shape  soever  Truth  comes,  upon  reaching 
the  soul  it  makes  that  soxAfeel  and  act ;  and  thus  fashions 
her  nature.  The  same  is  true  of  Error,  only  with  a  contrary 
effect.  I  repeat,  then,  so  far  as  he  uses  an  instrument,  no 
agent  can  act  on  the  soul  for  good  without  Truth.  That 
agent  must  have  Truth.  Without  this,  in  matters  of  religion, 
the  soul  can  not  understand  what  God  is,  what  sin  is,  what 
holiness  is,  what  duty  is,  what  the  way  of  salvation  is,  what 
heaven  is,  or  what  is  the  meaning  of  any  thing  religious. 
And,  until  it  understand  what  these  and  kindred  things  are, 
ay,  and  feel  them  too,  it  can  not  repent,  can  not  believe, 
can  not  exercise  Divine  love,  can  not  perform  a  single  holy 
act,  can  not  become  a  renewed  and  purified  being.  Even 
the  Spirit  of  God  (with  reverence  is  it  spoken)  can  not 
make  the  soul  understand  and  feel  these  things,  except 
through  the  medium  of  Truth.  If  it  have  not  written  truth 
as  its  instrument,  it  must,  by  direct  inspiration,  supply  its 
equivalent,  and  by  an  inward  miracle,  teach  the  soul  to  un- 
derstand, and  enable  it  to  feel  the  truth,  which  it  brings. 
Otherwise,  its  renewing  and  purifying  work  must  remain 
undone.  But  this  inward  miracle,  though  possible  with 
God,  yet  He  has  not  encouraged  us  to  expect.  He  has 
given  us  His  revealed  and  written  Truth  ;  this  Truth  He 
has  put  into  the  hands  of  His  Spirit ;  and  with  this  His 
Spirit  works  in  renewing  and  purifying  the  soul.  Under 
an  economy  of  means,  this  is  a  necessary  instrument  in 
His  work.  With  this  only,  as  resident  in  His  Church,  and 
actually  using  an  instniment.  He  enlightens,  quickens, 
changes,  purifies,  strengthens,  comforts,  and  perfects  the 
soul  into  a  likeness  to  His  own  blessed  self. 

Conscience  has  sometimes  been  called  a  Divine  light, 
and  the  voice  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man  ;  as  though  this 
could  stand  in  the  stead  of  revealed,  or  otherwise  commu- 
nicated truth.     But  this  is  false  philosophy.     Conscience 


28  THE  christian's  new  birth. 

would,  more  properly,  be  called  the  eye  of  the  soul,  with 
which  it  sees  truth ;  or  the  ear  of  the  soul,  with  which  it 
hears  the  voice  of  God  ;  or,  more  properly  still,  the  sensi- 
bility of  the  soul,  with  which  it  feels  the  power  of  His 
Word.  Strictly  speaking,  however,  conscience  is  but  the 
mind  itself,  seeing  and  judging,  approving  or  condemning 
its  own  acts ;  and  Truth — revealed  in  the  written  Word, 
or  radiating  from  the  works  of  God,  or  shining  in  the  ac- 
tions of  men,  or  miraculously  communicated  by  the  Spirit — 
is  the  light  which  the  mind  uses  in  thus  seeing  and  judg- 
ing, approving  or  condemning,  its  own  acts.  Truth  is  the 
light  in  which  the  soul  was  formed  to  live.  Truth  is  a  uni- 
versal language,  which  she  can  every  where  be  taught  to 
understand.  Truth  is  a  spiritual  weapon,  which  always 
makes  her  feel,  whenever  it  is  brought  so  as  to  reach  her 
susceptibilities.  And,  as  already  intimated,  the  office  of 
the  Spirit  is  to  pour  the  light  of  truth  around  the  soul,  and 
to  heal  her  diseased  eye,  that  she  may  see  it ;  to  speak  the 
meaning  of  truth  to  the  mind,  and  to  unstop  its  closed  ear, 
that  it  may  hear  its  meaning  ;  or,  to  bring  the  weapon  of 
truth  home  to  the  heart,  and  to  take  off  the  iron  mail  of 
prejudice,  that  the  sensibilities  may  feel  its  piercing.  In 
the  plain  terms  of  the  passage  on  which  these  remarks  are 
made,  the  office  of  the  Spirit  is  to  bring  the  soul  to  "  obey 
the  truth,^''  that,  "  in  obeying,"  it  may  be  "  purified  unto  un- 
feigned love  of  the  brethren,"  and  every  other  form  of  ho- 
liness. The  soul  obeys  truth  when  it  perceives,  feels,  and 
submits  to  it ;  when  it  bows  to  its  authority,  loves  its  sway, 
and  joyfully  gives  it  governance  over  the  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings, principles  and  purposes,  motives  and  conduct  of  the 
mind  ;  and  truth,  thus  made  effectual  by  the  Spirit,  thus  rev- 
erenced, loved,  and  followed,  touches  every  faculty  of  the 
soul,  mixes  remedially  in  all  its  action,  brings  it  right  with 
God,  and  right  with  man,  works  off  its  impurities,  excites 
love,  and  brings  back  to  man  the  lost  tempers  of  heaven. 


THE    CHRISTIAN  S    NEW    BIRTH.  29 

It  may,  indeed,  be  asked.  How  does  the  Holy  Spirit,  in 
the  process  just  unfolded,  open  the  blinded  eye  of  the  soul, 
that  it  may  be  conscious  of  the  presence  of  Truth  as  a  spir- 
itual light ;  or  unstop  its  deafened  ear,  that  it  may  hear  the 
meaning  of  that  truth  when  presented  ;  or  soften  its  harden- 
ed heart,  that  it  may  feel  the  power  of  that  truth  when 
urged  ?  Is  not  here  a  work  upon  the  soul  which  the  Spirit 
must  perform  before  it  can  use  the  instrument  of  truth  in 
carrying  on  its  farther  work  ?  And  must  it  not,  therefore, 
do  this  previous  work  without  an  instrument  ? 

This  is  inquiring  deeply,  but  not,  I  apprehend,  beyond 
the  power  of  answer.  I  see  not  that  this  first  act  must  be 
performed  without  an  instrument,  but,  rather,  that  an  instru- 
ment is  actually  used  in  performing  it ;  yea,  that  this  in- 
strument is  the  very  Truth  itself,  which  is  afterward  to  be 
still  farther  employed.  To  bring  an  illustration,  I  would 
say,  Truth  is  the  cowc/im^-instrument,  which  the  Spirit  uses 
in  removing  the  film  from  the  eye  of  the  soul,  that  it  may  be 
conscious  of  the  light  of  Truth.  Truth  is  the  point  which 
the  Spirit  uses  in  piercing  the  dulness  of  her  ear,  that  it 
may  hear  the  meaning  of  Truth.  And  Truth  is  the  fire 
which  the  Spirit  applies  in  melting  the  hardness  of  her 
heart,  that  it  may  feel  the  -power  of  Truth.  Evidently,  the 
Divine  Agent  may,  and,  for  aught  that  appears  to  the  con- 
trary, must  use  the  instrument  of  Truth  in  this,  his  first  act, 
as  well  as  in  any  and  in  every  farther  operation.  The  es- 
sence of  Truth  is  spiritual.  Divine  Truth  is  what  the  Spirit 
utters.  What  He  speaks  is  to  be  understood.  And  when 
He  speaks.  He  makes  the  deaf  to  hear,  as  well  as  the  hear- 
ing to  understand.  "  Speak,  Lord,  for  thy  servant  heareth," 
was  the  language  of  the  listening  young  Samuel. —  1  Sam., 
iii.,  9,  10.  "  When  they  heard  this,  they  were  pricked  in 
their  heart,"  was  the  experience  of  the  three  thousand  to 
whom  Peter  preached  the  Gospel  on  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
C2 


30  THE    christian's    NEW    BIRTH. 

and  whose  hard  hearts  the  Spirit  pierced  by  what  they 
heard. — Acts,  ii.,  37. 

I  have  thought  it  desirable  to  dwell  the  longer  on  this 
point,  because  it  has  an  important  bearing  on  what  I  am 
hereafter  to  say  on  the  subjects  of  preaching  and  the  sacra- 
ments. The  application  of  what  has  been  said  to  those 
subjects  I  shall  not  at  present  anticipate.  I  will  only  add, 
in  this  place,  that  the  relation  which  has  been  indicated  be- 
tween the  truth  of  God's  Word  and  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  soul  of  man  on  the  other,  is  most  important. 
It  shows  us  why  the  Church  is  more  gloriously  successful 
in  one  place,  or  at  one  time,  than  another,  in  saving  the 
souls  of  men.  It  is  because,  in  such  places  and  at  such 
times,  she  has  more  holy  truth,  with  a  less  mixture  of  error, 
than  at  others,  in  her  preaching  and  sacraments,  in  her  doc- 
trines and  worship.  If  truth  be  the  only  instrument  with 
which  the  Spirit  renews  and  purifies  the  soul,  then  all 
truth,  so  far  as  Revelation  has  made  it  known,  is  import- 
ant, and  not  a  ray  of  its  light  may  be  safely  or  guiltlessly 
turned  aside  from  the  eye  of  the  mind.  The  Church  which 
has  Truth  in  her  standards,  yet  that  truth  corrupted  with 
Error,  or  covered  under  a  pall  of  darkness,  can  hope  for 
little,  if  any  success  in  saving  men.  Where  truth  is  latent, 
or  error  mostly  visible,  the  soul  can  receive  little  or  nothing 
but  damage.  Error  is  the  instrument  which  the  Spirit  of 
Evil  uses  in  deforming  and  destroying  the  soul ;  in  pollu- 
ting it,  and  filling  it  with  hatred  of  God.  Where  there  is 
no  holy  truth,  the  soul  lies  dead  in  her  blood  and  unclean- 
ness.  But  where  such  truth  prevails,  where  it  is  free  from 
mixtures  of  error,  and  is  simply  and  adequately  exhibited 
in  the  ministry  and  services  of  the  Church,  there  true  con- 
versions abound,  and  the  souls  of  a  great  multitude  are  seen, 
washed  from  the  guilt  of  their  transgressions,  made  alive 
to  God,  and  clothed  in  the  garments  of  beautiful  holiness. 

Let  us  bear  in  mind,  then,  the  points  which  have  now 


THE   CHRISTIAN  S    NEW    BIRTH.  31 

been  reviewed.  The  soul  of  every  man  guilty  of  actual  sin 
must  be  morally  changed  and  purified,  or  it  can  never  be 
happy  with  God.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  the  only  Agent  by 
which  this  change  can  be  effected.  And  Divine  truth  is 
the  sole  instrument  which  He  uses  in  this  work.  And  let 
us  never  forget  that,  in  speaking  of  Divine  truth,  the  Spirit 
of  God,  and  the  soul  of  man,  we  are  not  speaking  of  blocks 
and  brutes,  but  of  living  and  life-giving  things  ;  and  that, 
therefore,  the  whole  subject  devolves  on  us  the  duties  of 
prayer  and  watchfulness,  of  labor  and  study,  of  thought  and 
effort,  to  see  that  these  living  and  life-giving  things  be  not 
k;pt  apart.  It  is  only  by  keeping  the  truth,  the  Spirit,  and 
the  soul  in  close  conapauionship,  that  we  can  expect  the 
blessed  result  of  renewed  and  purified  natures.  Indolence 
and  indifference  here  are  as  deeply  mischievous,  and,  in 
one  sense,  as  deeply  criminal,  as  dislike  and  opposition. 
Though  God  is  always  first  in  action  in  the  great  work 
which  we  have  considered,  yet  we  should  always  labor  as 
though  first  action  belonged  to  us  ;  and  though  He  will 
ever  be  found  to  have  wrought  all  our  good  in  us,  yet  we 
should  always  work  as  though  there  were  a  sense  in  which 
all  things  depend  on  ourselves. 


32         PREACHING    THE   RIGHT   HAND   OF    THE   SPIRIT. 


CHAPTER  II. 

JPREACHING   THE   RIGHT   HAND   OF   THE   SPIRIT  IN  "WIELDING 
THE  SWORD  OF  THE  WORD. 

1  Pet.,  k,  23  :  "  Being  born  again,  not  of  corruptible,  but  of  incorruptible 
seed,  by  the  Word  of  God,  which  liveth  and  abideth  forever." 

It  has  been  shown,  in  the  previous  chapter,  that  the 
new  birth,  of  which  mention  is  here  made,  is  indispensably 
necessary  to  the  salvation  of  every  man  as  a  moral  agent ; 
that  the  only  efficient  cause  of  this  change  is  the  Holy 
Spirit ;  and  that  the  only  instrument  which  this  Divine 
Agent  can  employ  in  this  work  is  holy  truth.  This  truth  is 
called,  in  the  passage  prefixed  to  the  present  chapter,  "  The 
Word  of  God,  that  liveth  and  abideth  forever ;"  or,  as  it 
should,  perhaps,  have  been  rendered,  "  The  Word  of  the 
living  and  ever-abiding  God."  In  another  place  it  is  call- 
ed "  The  Sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  Word  of  God," 
in  reference  to  the  use  which  this  Divine  Agent  makes  of  it 
in  slaying  the  sins  of  the  heart,  and  in  conquering  the  hos- 
tility of  the  world. 

If  the  question  were  here  asked.  With  what  visible  hand 
does  the  Spirit  most  efficaciously  wield  this  Sword  of  the 
Word,  this  instrument  of  heavenly  temper  ?  I  presume  all 
enlightened  Christians  would  answer,  With  the  hand  of  an 
authorized  ministry  of  living  men.  This  ministry  unques- 
tionably stands  in  the  awfully  honorable  place  of  the  seen 
hand,  with  which  the  Spirit  of  God  generally  grasps  and 
wields  the  sword  of  Divine  truth.  And  this  hand  is  kindly 
and  wisely  chosen.  It  is  better  than  would  have  been  the 
hand  of  angels.     Man,  spiritually  taught  to  know  himself^ 


PREACHING    THE   RIGHT    HAND    OP    THE    SPIRIT.         33 

knows  also,  by  analogy,  V\^  fellow  man,  and  can  approach 
him  without  inspiring  that  overwhelming  awe  with  which 
he  would  be  struck  by  the  ministry  of  more  mysterious  na- 
tures. The  ministry  of  living  men  has  always  been  in  use 
under  every  dispensation  of  the  Church,  and  is  especially 
characteristic  of  it  under  its  Christian  name.  It  is  this 
ministry  which  now  appears,  visibly,  in  filling  the  Sabbaths, 
the  worship,  the  preaching,  and  the  Sacraments  of  the 
Church  with  a  kind  of  life  and  motion.  Take  this  ministry 
away,  and  all  these  channels  would  be  empty,  or  filled  with 
nothing  but  motionless  truth.  Take  this  ministry  away, 
and  the  Spirit  would  have  no  commissioned,  visible,  and  vi- 
tal hand  in  bringing  God's  truth  into  action  through  its  ap- 
pointed channels. 

But  when  we  come  to  ask  another  question,  Was  this 
visible  ministry  appointed  to  bring  truth  into  operation 
mainly  through  the  administration  of  the  Sacraments,  or 
mainly  through  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  ?  we  do  not  find 
the  same  harmony  of  opinion.  In  speaking  of  these  visible 
channels,  through  which  the  instrument  of  truth  is  brought 
into  contact  with  the  mind  by  the  efficacious  power  of  the 
Spirit,  there  are  some  who  teach  "  that  the  Sacraments,  not 
preaching,  are  the  sources  of  Divine  grace  ;"*  that  "  the 
great  work"  which  Christians  at  first  "  did  every  Lord's 
Day,"  was  "  to  administer  and  receive  Christ's  mystical 
Body  and  Blood  ;"t  and  that  "  this  is  the  great  means,  ap- 
pointed by  our  blessed  Redeemer,  whereby  to  communicate 
himself  and  all  the  merits  of  His  most  precious  death  and 
passion  to  us,  for  the  pardon  of  all  our  sins,  and  for  the  pu- 
rifying of  our  consciences  from  dead  works,  to  serve  the 
living  God."|  But  to  others,  this  sounds  more  like  the  ex- 
treme of  a  human  theory  than  the  teaching  of  the  Word  of 
God.     To  their  apprehension,  this  Word  makes  the  preach- 

*  Tracts  for  the  Times,  N.  Y.  ed.,vol.  i.,  p.  6. 

t  Bishop  Beveridge,  quoted  by  the  Tracts,  p.  175.      t  Ibid.,  p.  189, 190 


34        PREACHING    THE    RIGHT    HAND    OP    THE    SPIRIT. 

ing  of  the  Gospel,  rather  than  the  administration  of  the 
Sacraments,  the  very  right-hand  of  the  Spirit  in  wielding 
the  sword  of  Truth  for  the  salvation  of  men. 

To  ascertain  which  of  these  important  views  is  the  more 
correct,  let  us  go  "  to  the  law  and  to  the  testimony." 

I.  What,  then,  is  the  language  of  the  New  Testament  in 
speaking  of  the  Sacraments  as  included  in  the  commission 
of  Christ's  ministers  ? 

1.  As  to  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism,  we  find  it  instituted, 
enjoined,  and  practiced  ;  but.  to  all  appearance,  it  is  thus  pre- 
sented as  an  ordinance  which  was  io  follow  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel,  and  the  conversion  thereby  of  the  souls  of 
men  to  the  faith  of  Christ.  "  Preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature  ;  he  that  believeth  and  is  baptized,  shall  be  saved." 
— Mark,  xvi.,  15,  16.  Here,  evidently,  is  the  divinely  in- 
dicated order  in  the  work  of  the  ministry  :  1,  preaching  the 
Gospel ;  2,  its  effect,  conversion  unto  faith  ;  3,  the  outward 
expression  of  this  effect.  Baptism.  And  this  order  the  first 
ministers  of  Christ  appear  to  have  uniformly  followed. 
Hence,  when  "  Philip  went  down  to  the  city  of  Samaria 
and  preached  Christ  unto  them,"  it  is  said,  "  When  they  be- 
lieved Philip  preaching  the  things  concerning  the  kingdom 
of  God  and  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  they  were  baptized, 
both  men  and  women."  —  Acts,  viii.,  5,  12.  Hence,  in 
the  case  of  the  eunuch,  the  same  evangelist  first  "  opened 
his  mouth  and  began  at  the  same  Scripture"  which  had 
been  read,  "  and  preached  unto  him  Jesus :"  then  he  de- 
manded and  obtained  of  him  a  profession  of  his  faith  in 
Christ,  and  finally  he  "  baptized  him." — Acts,  viii.,  35,  37, 
38.  Hence,  too,  when  Peter  first  carried  the  Gospel  from 
the  Jews  to  the  Gentiles,  he  began  with  '■^preaching  peace 
by  Jesus  Christ,"  assuring  them  that  "  through  his  name, 
whosoever  believeth  pn  Him  shall  receive  remission  of  sins ;" 
and  when  his  preaching  had  been  blessed  to  their  conver- 
sion, he  inquired,  "  Can  any  man  forbid  water,  that  these 


PREACHING    THE    RIGHT    HAND    OP    THE    SPIRIT.        35 

should  not  be  laptized,  which  have  received  the  Holy  Ghost 
as  well  as  we  ?"  Then  "  he  commanded  them  to  be  baptiz- 
ed in  the  name  of  the  Lord." — Acts,  x.,  passim.  Hence 
Lydia  of  Thyatira  first  heard  Paul  and  Timothy  preach 
the  Gospel ;  then  "  the  Lord  opened  her  heart  to  attend  to 
the  things  which  were  spoken,"  and,  fi7ialli/,  being  a  true 
convert,  "she  was  baptized." — Acts,  xvi.,  14,  15.  Hence, 
Paul  and  Silas,  singing  praises  unto  God  at  the  midnight 
hour  in  their  prison,  when  the  anxious  jailer  of  Philippi 
came  in  with  the  inquiry,  "  Sirs,  what  must  I  do  to  be  sav- 
ed V  replied,  "  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou 
shalt  be  saved,  and  thine  house."  Then  "  spake  they  unto 
him  the  Word  of  the  Lord,  and  to  all  that  were  in  his 
house ;"  and  "  believing  in  God  with  all  his  house,"  "  he 
was  baptized,  he  and  all  his  straightway." — Acts,  xvi.,  30- 
34.  Hence,  when  Peter  had  preached  his  first  sermon, 
and  when  the  multitude,  who  "  were  pricked  in  their  heart, 
said  -unto  him  and  to  the  rest  of  the  Apostles,  Men  and 
brethren,  what  shall  we  do  ?"  he  answered,  "  Repent,  and 
be  baptized,  every  one  of  you,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ, 
for  the  remission  of  sins."  "  Then  they  that  gladly  received 
his  Word,  were  baptized,  and  the  same  day  there  were 
added  to  them  about  three  thousand  souls." — Acts,  ii.,  37, 
38,  41.  And  hence,  when  Saul  of  Tarsus  had  seen  a  vi- 
sion of  his  persecuted  Lord,  he  must  needs  go  to  Damas- 
cus, and  listen  to  the  preaching  of  Annanias,  before,  in  the 
waters  of  Baptism,  he  visibly  sealed  the  faith,  to  which  he 
had  been  converted,  and  thus  openly  consecrated  himself 
to  the  service  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. — Acts,  xxii.,  10-16. 

In  the  New  Testament  are  many  other  references  to  the 
practice  of  Baptism,*  but  nothing,  so  far  as  I  am  aware 
which  can  affect  the  view  here  taken — that  it  is  an  ordi- 

*  See,  among  other  passages,  the  following,  as  most  important :  John, 
iii.,  26;  iv.,  1,  2.  Acts,  viii.,  12.  Rom.,  vi.,  3,  4.  1  Cor.,  xii.,  13.  Gal., 
ill.,  27.    Eph.,  iv.,  5.    Tit.,  iii.,  4,  5.    Heb.,  vi.,  2.     1  Peter,  iii.,  21. 


36        PREACHING    THE    RIGHT    HAND    OF    THE    SPIRIT, 

nance  designed  to  follow  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  and 
the  conversion  thereby  of  the  souls  of  men  to  the  faith  of 
Christ. 

It  must,  indeed,  be  observed  that  these  remarks  apply  to 
the  baptism  of  adults.  That  of  infants  is  rather  an  ecclesi- 
astical usage  than  an  express  Divine  precept :  a  usage,  in- 
deed, supported  by  just  inference  from  the  Bible,  and  by 
early  Christian  practice ;  still,  as  I  conceive,  not  affecting 
the  view  which  1  have  taken  of  the  original  design  and 
place  of  Baptism.  Infants  are  incapable  of  receiving  a 
preached  Gospel,  of  repenting  and  of  believing  in  Christ. 
To  them,  baptism  is  a  token  that  they  are  the  seed  of  a  be- 
lieving people  J  it  admits  them  into  the  Visible  Church ; 
seals  to  them,  conditionally,  the  promises  of  God  ;  places 
them  for  education  amid  the  outward  privileges  and  means 
of  grace  ;  represents  to  them  what  they  need,  the  renewing 
and  cleansing  influences  of  the  Spirit ;  and  binds  them, 
upon  opening  accountability,  to  seek  those  influences  and 
to  become  what  their  baptism  teaches  they  should  become, 
dead  unto  sin  and  alive  unto  righteousness.  Hence,  when 
they  "  come  to  years  of  discretion,"  the  Church  still  "  calls 
upon  them  to  hear  sermons,"  the  Gospel  preached,  and 
"  chiefly  provides  that  they  should  learn  the  Creed,  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  and  the  Ten  Commandments,  and  all  other 
things  which  a  Christian  ought  to  know  and  believe  to  his 
soul's  health."*  And  hence,  when  effectually  brought  to 
this  knowledge  and  faith,  they  are  called  on  openly  to  ratify 
and  confirm  what  was  done  in  their  name  in  baptism,  before 
they  can  be  regularly  received  to  a  participation  of  the  high- 
er Sacrament  of  the  Church. f  The  principle  in  question, 
therefore,  remains  unafiected.  The  preaching  of  the  Gos- 
pel, or  some  equivalent  inculcation  of  its  truths,  in  riper 
years,  is  as  much  needed  in  their  case  as  it  is  in  the  case 
of  the  great  body  of  unbaptized  adults  in  the  world,  to  whom 

*  Off.  Infant  Baptism.  -f  Conf.  Off.  and  Rub.  in  Catech. 


PREACHING    THE    RIGHT    HAND    OF    THE    SPIRIT.        37 

Christ's  ministers  are  commissioned  to  carry  the  Gospel. 
In  either  case,  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  or  some  equiv- 
alent, seems  the  necessary  channel  through  which  the 
quickening  influences  of  the  Spirit  flow  ;  and  in  hoth  cases 
baptism  has  mainly  the  same  signification  and  effect,  as  an 
ordinance  admitting  to  membership  in  the  Church,  sealing 
the  promises  of  God,  and  binding  to  obedience  of  life.  Even 
in  infant  baptism  the  ministry  of  the  Word  holds  priority, 
not  in  point  of  time,  but  in  point  of  efficacy,  as  that  channel 
through  which  the  Spirit  first  pours  quickening  and  renew- 
ing truth  upon  the  intelligent  and  conscious  soul,  and  thus 
brings  it  to  a  fitness  openly  and  intelligently  to  confess 
Christ  before  men.  In  the  view  of  the  Church,  whatever 
may  be  the  effect  of  infant  baptism,  it  is  evidently  not  that 
of  a  first  means  of  that  great  moral  change  through  which 
every  conscious  transgressor  must  pass  in  order  to  salva- 
tion. 

2.  Of  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  less  is  said  in 
the  New  Testament  than  of  baptism.  Three  of  the  writers 
of  the  Gospels  record  the  facts  of  its  first  institution,  and  of 
its  being  enjoined  on  the  disciples  as  a  memorial  of  Christ, 
and  as  a  sacred  symbol  of  his  atoning  sacrifice.  —  Matt., 
xxvi. ;  Mark,  xiv. ;  and  Luke,  xxii.  The  Apostle  Paul  re- 
cords the  special  revelation  to  him  of  the  same  facts. — 
1  Cor.,  xi.,  23-26.  He  also  sharply  reproves  the  Co- 
rinthians for  their  shocking  abuse  of  this  sacrament,  and 
gives  them  suitable  instructions  for  its  decent  observance  in 
future.  —  1  Cor.,  xi.,  17-34.  Moreover,  he  thus  defines 
the  act  of  receiving  this  sacrament :  "  The  cup  of  blessing 
which  we  bless,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  blood  of 
Christ  ?  The  bread  which  we  break,  is  it  not  the  commun- 
ion of  the  body  of  Christ? — 1  Cor.,  x.,  16.  And  he  shows 
the  utter  inconsistency  of  "  drinking  the  cup  of  the  Lord  and 
the  cup  of  devils,  and  of  being  partakers  of  the  Lord's 
Table  and  cf  the  table  of  devils." — 1  Cor.,  x.,  21.  In 
D 


38        PREACHING   THE    RIGHT   HAND   OF    THE    SPIRIT. 

addition  to  this,  there  are  three  incidental  allusions  to  the 
observance  of  this  sacrament  during  the  times  of  the  apos- 
tles ;  one,  in  the  case  of  Christ  and  the  two  disciples  at 
Emmaus,  if  that  can  be  called  an  instance  of  its  observance  ; 
another  in  the  case  of  the  three  thousand  converted  under 
the  preaching  of  Peter ;  and  another  in  the  case  of  Paul 
and  the  Church  at  Troas,  in  connection  with  the  death  and 
recovery  of  Eutychus. 

This,  so  far  as  I  can  collect,  is  the  whole  of  what  is  said 
of  this  sacrament  in  the  New  Testament ;  enough  to  evince 
the  Divine  origin,  high  obligation,  and  vast  importance  of 
the  Lord's  Supper ;  and  to  prove  that,  by  the  early  Christ- 
ians, it  was  an  ordinance  regularly,  or,  at  least,  frequently 
observed  ;  and  yet  going  mainly  to  show  that  this  ordinance, 
in  its  leading  design,  is  Love's  memorial  of  the  death  of 
Christ ;  that  the  bread  and  wine  in  the  Eucharist  are  sym- 
bols, ministerially  set  apart,  of  Christ's  body  and  blood  as  a 
sacrifice  for  sin ;  and  that  to  abuse  this  ordinance  in  a  pro- 
fane way,  or  without  discerning  by  faith  the  Lord's  body 
which  it  symbolizes,  is  to  eat  and  drink  not  with  a  blessing, 
but  unto  condemnation. 

This  is  not  the  place  for  entering  fully  into  an  examina- 
tion of  the  sense  of  these  important  passages.  Such  an  ex- 
amination belon;gs  to  a  future  stage  in  the  discussion.  For 
the  present,  therefore,  I  content  myself  with  saying  that, 
rightly  understood,  they  do  not  suggest  the  idea  that  either 
Christ  or  his  apostles  relied  on  this  sacrament  for  the  con- 
veyance of  that  pardon  which  was  purchased  by  his  death, 
or  that  they  relied  on  this  sacrament  mainly  for  giving  effect 
to  his  wondrous  work  of  atonement  by  sacrifice.  On  the 
contrary,  understood  in  their  true  sense,  they  are  full  of 
meaning  to  this  effect :  that  its  Institutor,  and  his  first  min- 
isters, considered  it  an  ordinance  in  which  true  Christians 
only  are  to  commune  happily  together  in  love,  and  profita- 
bly together  by  faith,  upon  the  consecrated  symbols  of  their 


PREACHING   THE    RIGHT    HAND   OF    THE    SPIRIT.        39 

Savior's  body  and  blood  ,-  that,  having  previously^  by  "  re- 
pentance toward  God,  and  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,"  become  participants  in  the  pardon  of  sin,  and  in 
the  hope  of  eternal  life,  as  revealed  in  the  Gospel,  such 
Christians  come  together  at  the  Lord's  Supper  to  express 
their  love  for  Christ,  and  their  faith  in  Him ;  and,  in  the 
exercise  of  these  graces,  to  be  refreshed  and  strengthened  in 
the  new  life  mightily  ;  feeding  in  spirit  on  "  the  True  Bread 
which  came  down  from  heaven." 

II.  Having  thus  seen  what  is  said  of  the  sacraments,  let 
us  now  see  what  is  said  of  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  as 
the  great  work  of  the  ministry. 

\.  It  would  seem,  then,  that  there  is  something  of  mean- 
ing in  the  fact  that  Christ  himself  is  called,  by  emphasis, 
"  the  Word."  Why  was  this,  but  to  intimate  that  truth  utter- 
ed, spoken,  by  himself  and  by  his  ministry,  is  the  great 
means  by  which,  through  the  efficacious  influences  of  His 
Spirit,  He  designs  to  give  effect  to  His  redeeming  work  in 
saving  lost  men  ? 

2.  Illustrative  of  this,  we  have  the  fact  that  His  own  min- 
istry was  eminently  a  ministry  of  preaching  the  Gospel.  It 
was  by  this,  blessed  by  the  influences  of  His  Spirit,  that  He 
prepared  His  disciples  to  understand  and  receive  the  offer- 
ing of  Himself  as  a  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  world.  In 
this  act  of  sacrifice,  indeed,  lies  the  burden  of  his  Gospel ; 
and  yet  in  this  act  itself  He  spent  a  few  hours  only ;  while, 
in  preparing  the  disciples  for  it,  by  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  of  the  kingdom,  He  consumed  years.  From  the 
time  of  His  entrance  on  His  ministry,  "  Jesus  began  to 
preach  and  to  say,  Repent,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at 
hand." — Matt.,  iv.,  17.  And  it  was  as  true  of  the  whole 
sphere  of  His  ministry  as  it  was  of  the  particular  place 
mentioned,  that  "  Jesus  went  about  all  Galilee,  teaching  in 
their  synagogues,  and  preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  king- 
dom."—  Matt.,  iv.,  23.      When  he  "departed"  from  one 


40        PREACHING    THE    RIGHT    HAND    OP   THE   SPIRIT. 

place,  it  was  "to  teach  and  to  preach  in  their  cities." — 
Matt.,  xi.,  1.  To  His  disciples  He  said,  "  Let  us  go  into 
the  next  towns,  that  I  may  preach  there  also ;  for  there- 
fore came  I  forth."  —  Mark,  i.,  38.  And  when  He  came 
into  the  synagogue  at  Nazareth,  and  made  His  hearers 
"  wonder  at  the  gracious  words  which  proceeded  out  of 
His  mouth,"  it  was  by  simply  commenting  on  that  beautiful 
prophecy  of  Isaiah  concerning  himself:  "  The  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  is  upon  me,  because  He  hath  anointed  me  to  preach 
the  Gospel  to  the  poor  ;  He  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  broken 
hearted  ;  to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captives,  and  recover- 
ing of  sight  to  the  blind  ;  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are 
bruised  ;  to  preach  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord." — 
Luke,  iv.,  18,  19. 

3.  As  a  farther  illustration,  we  have  the  fact  that  the 
twelve  were  chosen  to  be  with  him  "  from  the  beginning,'" 
in  order  that,  by  listening  to  his  preaching,  and  witnessing 
His  miracles  and  His  passion,  they  might,  when  endowed 
with  the  Spirit,  be  qualified  to  become  themselves  preachers 
of  the  Gospel,  which  they  had  been  taught.  Hence  He 
says  to  them,  "  When  the  Comforter  is  come,  whom  I  will 
send  unto  you  from  the  Father,  even  the  Spirit  of  Truth, 
which  proceedeth  from  the  Father,  He  shall  testify  of  me  ; 
and  ye  also  shall  bear  witness,  because  ye  have  been  with  me 
from  the  beginning."  —  John,  xv.,  26,  27.  The  season 
which  they  spent  with  Him  was  the  period  of  their  theo- 
logical education  ;  of  their  acquisition  of  knowledge,  and 
their  investment  with  the  Spirit,  in  order  to  their  success- 
ful icitnessing  for  Christ  in  their  future  preaching  of  His 
Gospel. 

4.  As  a  still  farther  illustration,  we  have  the  fact  that 
the  various  commissions  which  the  apostles  received  from 
Christ  were  chiefly  commissions  to  preach  the  Gospel. 
Thus  ran  the  high  mandates  under  which  they  went  forth. 

First,  Jesus  "  ordained  twelve  that  they  might  be  with 


PREACHING    THE    RIGHT    HAND    OF    THE    SPIRIT.        41 

him,  and  that  he  might  send  them  forth  io  preach,  and  to 
have  power  to  heal  sickness,  and  to  cast  out  devils." — 
Mark,  iii.,  14,  15.  Luke,  vi.,  13.  Here,  evidently,  their 
chief  work  was  preaching.  Miracles  could  have  been  but 
an  occasional  incident  on  their  way. 

Their  second  commission,  however,  was  still  more  em- 
phatic. "  Go  ye  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel ; 
and,  as  ye  go,  preach,  saying,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at 
hand." — Matt.,  x.,  7.  "  What  I  tell  you  in  darkness,  that 
speak  ye  in  tight ;  and  what  ye  hear  in  the  ear,  that  preach 
ye  on  the  house  tops." — Matt.,  x.,  27.  "  And  whosoever 
shall  not  receive  you,  nor  hear  your  words,  when  ye  de- 
part out  of  that  city  shake  off  the  dust  of  your  feet.  Verily 
I  say  unto  you,  it  shall  be  more  tolerable  for  the  land  of 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah  in  the  day  of  judgment  than  for  that 
city." — Matt.,  x.,  14,  15.  In  this,  as  in  the  first  commis- 
sion, was  included  the  temporary  povi^er  of  working  mira- 
cles. But,  as  in  the  former  case,  it  could  have  been  but  an 
incident  by  the  way.  Their  main  business  must  have  been 
the  "preaching  of  the  kingdom." — Luke,  ix.,  2. 

Nor  was  this  feature  removed  from  its  place  of  primacy 
in  their  third  and  great  commission  from  Christ ;  conferred 
after  His  resurrection,  when  He  may  be  supposed  to  have 
given  it  its  most  evangelical  type.  "  All  power  is  given 
unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.  Go  ye  therefore  and 
teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  teaching  them  to 
observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you ;  and 
lo !  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 
—  Matt.,  xxviii.,  18-20.  Or,  as  it  is  elsewhere  given: 
"  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature.  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved  ; 
and  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned." — Mark,  xvi., 
15,  16.  To  this  their  last,  their  finished  commission,  it  is 
immediately  added,  by  way  of  historical  comment,  "  And 

D2 


42         PREACHING    THE    RIGHT    HAND    OF    THE    SPIRIT. 

they  went  forth,  and  preached  every  where  ;  the  Lord  work- 
ing with  them,  and  confirming  the  Word  with  signs  follow- 
ing."— Mark,  xvi.,  20. 

5.  This  comment  leads  to  the  mention  of  still  another 
illustrative  fact — that,  after  their  Master  had  given  their 
commission  its  widest  scope  and  most  divine  fullness  ;  after 
He  had  dropped  from  his  ascending  form  the  broad  mantle 
of  his  own  authority  upon  their  office,  they,  with  their  co- 
adjutors, immediately  gave  themselves  to  the  execution  of 
their  commission  in  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  To  this, 
emphatically,  Peter  and  John,  Stephen  and  Philip,  Paul  and 
Barnabas,  Apollos — "  mighty  in  the  Scriptures" — and  the 
multitude  dispersed  by  early  persecution,  devoted  their  pow- 
ers :  "  Rejoicing  that  they  were  counted  worthy  to  suffer 
shame  for  his  name,  they  daily,  in  the  Temple  and  in  every 
house,  ceased  not  to  teach  and  preach  Jesus  Christ. ^^ — Acts, 
v.,  41,  42.  Yea,  "They  went  every  where,  preaching  the 
Word.'" — Acts,  viii.,  4. 

While  thus  engaged,  the  incidents  which  happened  to  them, 
and  the  manner  in  which  they  met  those  incidents,  showed 
the  estimate  in  which  they  held  their  office,  and  the  interpre- 
tation which  they  put  on  their  commission.  Scarcely  had 
they  entered  on  their  work,  when  they  were  thrown  into 
prison  for  their  boldness  in  preaching  Christ.  But  the  An- 
gel of  the  Lord,  having  opened  their  prison  door,  said  unto 
them,  "  Go,  stand  and  speak  in  the  Temple  to  the  people 
all  the  words  of  this  life."  They  went,  and  spake  !  Im- 
mediately, however,  they  were  dragged  before  the  coun- 
cil, and  asked,  "  Did  we  not  straightly  command  you  that 
ye  should  not  teach  in  this  name  1  And,  behold,  ye  have 
filled  Jerusalem  with  your  doctrine."  But  to  this  their  he- 
roic reply  was,  "  We  ought  to  obey  God  rather  than  men  ;" 
and  with  that  they  instantly  began  to  preach  Jesus,  in  the 
very  audience  of  their  persecutors.  And  when  they  had 
been  beaten  for  so  doing,  "  they  departed  from  the  presence 


PREACHING    THE    RIGHT    HAND    OF    THE    SPIRIT.        43 

of  the  council,  rejoicing  that  they  were  counted  worthy  to 
suffer  shame  for  his  name.  And  daily,  in  the  Temple,  and 
in  every  house,  they  ceased  not  to  teach  and  preach  Jesus 
Christ." — Acts,  v.,  passim. 

Again  :  when  the  apostles  found  lesser  duties  too  en- 
grossing upon  their  time,  they  appointed  subordinate  min- 
isters for  such  things,  saying,  "  We  will  give  ourselves 
continually  to  prayer  and  to  the  ministry  of  the  Word." — 
Acts,  vi.,  4. 

And  again :  when  the  multitude,  "  unable  to  resist  the 
wisdom  and  the  Spirit,  by  which  he  spake"  in  his  preaching, 
had  "  stoned  Stephen,"  and  thus  began  to  roll  the  first  wave 
of  general  persecution  over  the  Infant  Church,  "  those  that 
were  scattered  abroad  went  every  where  preaching  the 
Word.'''' — Acts,  viii.,  4. 

In  all  these  incidents,  who  does  not  see  that  the  great 
burden  of  the  labors  of  all  his  first  ministers  was,  what  we 
should  naturally  expect  from  the  tenor  of  their  commission, 
not  the  administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  but  the  preach- 
ing of  "  Jesus  Christ,  and  him  crucified  V  The  body  of 
their  history  is,  in  fact,  found  in  the  following  brief  record : 
"  And  they,  when  they  had  testified  and  preached  the  Word 
of  the  Lord,  returned  to  Jerusalem,  and  preached  the  Gos- 
pel in  many  villages  of  the  Samaritans." — Acts,  viii.,  25. 
That  "  the  breaking  of  bread,"  or  celebration  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  was  very  frequent  in  the  first  Christian  assem- 
blies, it  is  needless  to  deny. — Acts,  ii.,  42.  But  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  main  course  of  their  ministry  lay 
thus  :  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  with  a  view  to  the  all- 
essential  result  of  bringing  men  to  "  repentance  toward  God, 
and  to  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;"  and  when 
they  were  thus  gathered  into  Christian  assemblies,  then  the 
drawing  close  of  the  bonds  of  brotherly  love  and  of  holy 
union,  by  frequently  communing  together  over  the  hallowed 
memorials  of  that  crucified  Master  to  whom  they  had  given 


44        PREACHING    THE    RIGHT    HAND    OF    THE    SPIRIT. 

their  faith,  and  whom  they  were  determined  to  serve,  though 
in  the  face  of  persecution  and  death.  By  the  ministry  of 
the  Word,  they  were  brought  to  the  Savior.  By  the  com- 
munion of  saints,  they  were  cheered  and  encouraged  to  con- 
stancy amid  the  kindling  fires  of  persecution. 

6.  But,  besides  all  these  facts  in  illustration  of  the  pres- 
ent point,  we  have  various  passages,  both  from  Christ  and 
from  his  apostles,  which  materially  increase  the  light  hith- 
erto collected. 

(1.)  Thus,  announcing  the  permanent  work  of  his  minis- 
ters, and  foretelling  even  the  end  of  the  world,  Christ  says, 
"  This  Gospel  of  the  kingdom  shall  be  preached  in  all  the 
world,  for  a  witness  unto  all  nations ;  and  then  shall  the 
end  come." — Matt.,  xxiv.,  14.  Other  things,  besides  this 
preaching  of  the  Gospel,  were  to  be  done  during  this  long 
period,  and  things  of  great  importance,  too ;  but,  in  thus 
condensing  the  entire  history  of  the  Church  into  a  single 
sentence,  this,  it  seems,  was  so  much  the  most  important 
of  all,  as  to  be  the  only  thing  worthy  of  introduction  into 
such  a  summary. 

(2.)  So,  too,  after  his  resurrection,  and  the  giving  of  his 
final  commission,  in  explaining  to  his  disciples  Moses,  the 
Prophets,  and  the  Psalms,  and  in  "  opening  their  under- 
standings, that  they  might  understand  the  Scriptures,"  He 
said  unto  them,  "  Thus  it  is  written,  and  thus  it  behooved 
Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the  third  day,  and 
that  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached  m 
his  name  among  all  nations." — Luke,  xxiv.,  44-47.  Suf 
fering,  as  a  sacrifice  for  sin,  was  the  great  fact  in  his  labors  ; 
giving  it  effect  through  the  Spirit,  by  preaching  in  his  name 
repentance  and  remission  of  sins,  was  to  be  the  great  work 
of  his  ministers.  To  this  end,  they  were  "  endued  with 
power  from  on  high,"  Luke,  xxiv.,  49  ;  and  to  make  them 
skilful  in  their  work,  "  their  understandings  were  opened, 
that  they  might  understand  the  Scriptures,"  and  thus  know 


PREACHING    THE    RIGHT    HAND    OF    THE    SPIRIT.        45 

how  to  preach  the  Savior,  whom  those  Scriptures  revealed. 
And  yet,  the  theory  of  some  would  have  Christ  to  say,  in 
substance,  while  thus  setting  forth  his  chief  act,  and  the 
corresponding  work  of  his  ministers :  "  Offering  the  Jirst 
sacrifice  for  sin  in  the  death  on  the  cross  has  been  my  great 
work  :  continuing  this  sacrifice,  in  the  sacrament  of  the 
altar,  is  to  be  yours."  It  is  enough  to  say,  Christ  did  not 
so  interpret  his  own  meaning.  His  interpretation  runs  thus  : 
*'  My  propitiatory  suffering  for  sin  is  the  most  vital  fact  in 
the  Gospel  system.  Your  main  labor  will  be  the  preaching 
of  this  fact,  and  of  its  dependent  system,  for  the  conversion 
and  salvation  of  sinners." 

(3.)  But,  to  pass  from  the  view  which  Christ  thus  gave 
of  this  point  to  that  which  his  apostles  took,  I  notice,  first, 
the  address  of  the  Apostle  Paul  to  the  elders  of  the  Church 
of  Ephesus  assembled  at  Miletus.  This  was  a  peculiarly 
solemn  occasion ;  lying  near  the  close  of  the  apostle's  la- 
bors, and  improved  to  the  affecting  purpose  of  showing  that 
he  had  "  made  full  proof  of  his  ministry ;  that  no  one 
could  charge  upon  him  the  death  of  a  single  soul ;  and  that 
the  skirts  of  his  office  had  been  washed  clean  from  the 
blood  of  all."  On  such  an  occasion,  what  does  he  say? 
Take  a  few  of  many  pregnant  expressions.  "  I  kept  back 
nothing  that  was  profitable,  but  have  showed  you  and  taught 
you  publicly,  and  from  house  to  house,  testifying  both  to 
the  Jews  and  also  to  the  Greeks,  repentance  toward  God, 
and  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And  now,  behold, 
I  go  bound  in  the  Spirit  unto  Jerusalem,  not  knowing  the 
things  which  shall  befall  me  there,  save  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  witnesseth  in  every  city,  saying  that  bonds  and  af- 
flictions abide  me.  But  none  of  these  things  move  me ; 
neither  count  I  my  life  dear  unto  myself,  so  that  I  might 
finish  my  course  with  joy,  and  the  ministry  which  I  have  re- 
ceived of  the  Lord  Jesus  to  testify  the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of 
God.     And  now,  behold,  I  know  that  ye  all,  among  whom  I 


46        PREACHING    THE    RIGHT    HAND    OF   THE    SPIRIT. 

have  gone  preaching  the  kingdom  of  God,  shall  see  my 
face  no  more.  Wherefore,  I  take  you  to  record  this  day, 
that  I  am  pure  from  the  blood  of  all  men ;  for  I  have  not 
shunned  to  declare  unto  you  all  the  counsel  of  God." — 
Acts.  XX.,  20-27.  This  is  a  specimen  of  his  whole  address, 
in  which  there  is  not  one  word  about  his  ever  having  ad- 
ministered a  single  sacrament.  And  yet,  he,  as  well  as 
others,  had  administered  the  sacraments  on  proper  occa- 
sions. But  the  truth  is,  he  had  been  so  mainly  occupied 
throughout  his  ministry  with  its  great  ordained  labor,  that 
now,  when  standing  almost  at  the  foot  of  Christ's  judgment 
seat,  and  amid  the  most  affecting  anticipations  of  his  final 
account,  he  could  only  pour  out  his  thoughts  on  what  had 
so  long  and  so  thoroughly  possessed  and  occupied  them, 
"  the  ministry  which  he  had  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus  to  tes- 
tify the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God .'" 

(4.)  Nor  is  his  demonstration  to  the  Romans  of  the  ne- 
cessity of  preaching  less  in  point.  "  Whosoever  shall  call 
on  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved.  How,  then,  shall 
they  call  on  Him,  in  whom  they  have  not  believed  ?  And 
how  shall  they  believe  in  Him,  of  whom  they  have  not 
heard  ?  And  how  shall  they  hear  without  a  preacher  ? 
And  how  shall  they  preach  except  they  be  sent  ?  As  it  is 
written.  How  beautiful  are  the  feet  of  them  that  preach  the 
Gospel  of  peace,  and  bring  glad  tidings  of  good  things  !" 
"  So,  then,  faith  cometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the 
Word  of  God:'— Rom.,  x.,  13-15,  and  17. 

How  different  is  this  from  the  theory,  that  whosoever, 
not  in  mortal  sin,  shall  partake  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  altar, 
with  faith  to  believe  that  Christ's  body  is  there,  shall  be 
saved.  The  apostle's  is  a  more  evangelic  scheme.  "  Who- 
soever shall  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord,  in  the  faith  ne- 
cessary to  such  a  calling,  shall  be  saved."  To  this  prayer 
of  faith  a  knowledge  of  Christ  is  of  course  necessary  ;  and  to 
this  knowledge  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  or  some  equiv- 


PREACHING    THE    RIGHT   HAND    OF    THE    SPIRIT.        47 

alent  inculcation  of  the  Word  of  God,  is  essential.  Here 
is  not  a  word  of  the  necessity  of  the  sacraments  to  salva- 
tion. The  sacraments  are  necessary  "  where  they  may  be 
had,"  and  for  the  end  designed  in  them,  but  not  essentially 
and  absolutely  necessary  to  salvation.  But,  so  far  as  the 
Gospel  is  concerned, ya///t  in  Christ,  derived  through  the 
Word  of  God,  is  essentially  and  absolutely  necessary  to 
salvation.  Hence  the  pre-eminent  importance  which  at- 
taches itself  to  the  ministry  of  the  Word. 

(5.)  To  the  same  effect  is  the  teaching  of  this  distinguish- 
ed apostle  to  the  Corinthians :  "  To  wit :  that  God  was  in 
Christ,  reconciling  the  world  unto  Himself,  not  imputing 
their  trespasses  unto  them  ;  and  hath  committed  unto  us  the 
Word  of  reconciliation.  Now  then  we  are  ambassadors  for 
Christ,  as  though  God  did  beseech  you  by  us.  We  pray 
you,  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God  ;  for  He  hath 
made  Him  to  be  sin  for  us  who  knew  no  sin,  that  we  might 
be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  Him." — 2  Cor.,  v., 
19-21.  This  is  one  of  the  happiest  summaries  on  record 
of  the  true  Gospel  of  our  redemption  ;  one  of  the  best  state- 
ments to  be  found  of  the  true  character  of  the  ministry  ;  and 
one  of  the  most  felicitous  specimens  to  be  met  with  of  the 
manner  in  which  this  ministry  should  be  exercised.  Ac- 
cording to  this,  the  Gospel  is,  "  God  in  Christ,  reconciling 
the  world  unto  himself;  not  imputing  their  trespasses  unto 
them :"  the  ministry ;  "  ambassadors  for  Christ,"  charged 
with  "  the  Word  of  reconciliation,"  the  terms  of  pardon  and 
life :  the  manner  of  exercising  this  ministry ;  urging  God's 
beseeching  call,  and  praying  men,  "  for  Christ's  sake,  to  be 
reconciled  to  him,"  as  the  most  effectual  way  of  bringing 
them  to  realize,  amid  the  tenderness  of  repentance  and 
the  actings  of  faith,  this  vital  truth  ;  that  God  "  hath  made 
Him,  who  knew  no  sin,  to  be  sin  for  us,  that  we  might  be 
made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  Him."  Precious  Gos- 
pel !  a  reconciling  God  in  Christ.     Solemn  ministry  !  am- 


48        PREACHING    THE    RIGHT    HAND    OF   THE    SPIRIT. 

bassadors  for  Christ,  as  though  God  did  beseech  by  us. 
Touching  discharge  of  our  high  function  !  pleading  with 
men,  for  Christ's  sake,  to  be  reconciled  to  Him,  against 
whom  they  have  rebelled,  but  who  yet  seeks  to  cover  them, 
through  faith  in  the  Crucified,  with  the  rich  robe  of  His  own 
perfect  righteousness.  Would  that  all  who  bear  the  name 
were  ministers  in  the  full  spirit  of  this  charming  passage ! 

(6.)  Nor  is  His  language  to  the  Corinthians  in  another 
place  less  in  point.  "  Though  ye  have  ten  thousand  in- 
structors  in  Christ,  yet  have  ye  not  many  fathers ;  for  in 
Christ  Jesus  I  have  begotten  you  through  the  Gospel." — 
1  Cor.,  iv.,  15.  Here  the  whole  order,  work,  and  result 
of  the  ministry  are  given  in  brief  but  significant  summary. 
"  In  Christ  Jesus"  who  giveth  the  Spirit,  and  whom  the 
Spirit  glorifieth,  Paul,  the  living  preacher,  "  had  begotten" 
to  their  new  birth  the  Corinthian  disciples,  "  through  the 
Gospel"  as  the  divinely  appointed  instrument  of  their  re- 
newal, and  conversion  "  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from 
the  power  of  Satan  unto  God." 

(7.)  But  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  language  on  this 
point  is  that  addressed  to  the  Corinthians  in  another  place, 
as  illustrating  both  the  necessity  and  the  power  of  preach- 
ing, when  considered  as  the  right  hand  of  the  Spirit  in  wield- 
ing the  Sword  of  the  Word.  "  Christ  sent  me  not  to  bap' 
iize,  but  to  preach  the  Gospel."  That  is,  administering  the 
sacraments  is  not  the  main  thing  for  which  I  am  sent. 
This  is  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  "  Not  with  wisdom 
of  words,  lest  the  Cross  of  Christ  should  be  made  of  none 
effect.  For  the  preaching  of  the  Cross  is,  to  them  that 
perish,  foolishness :  but  unto  us,  which  are  saved,  it  is  the 
power  of  God.  For  it  is  written,  I  will  destroy  the  wis- 
dom of  the  wise,  and  bring  to  naught  the  understanding  of 
the  prudent.  Where  is  the  wise  ?  Where  is  the  scribe  ? 
Where  is  the  disputer  of  this  world  ?  Hath  not  God  made 
foolish  the  wisdom  of  this  world  ?     For  after  that,  in  the 


PKEACHING    THE    RIGHT    HAND    OF    THE    SPIRIT.         49 

Wisdom  of  God,  the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not  God,  it 
pleased  God,  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching,  to  save  them 
that  believe.  For  the  Jews  require  a  sign,  and  the  Greeks 
seek  after  wisdom.  But  we  preach  Christ  crucified  ;  unto 
the  Jews  a  stumbling  block,  and  unto  the  Greeks  foolish- 
ness :  but  unto  them  which  are  called,  both  Jews  and 
Greeks,  Christ  the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God. 
Because  the  foolishness  of  God  is  wiser  than  men  ;  and  the 
weakness  of  God  is  stronger  than  men.  For  ye  see  your 
calling,  brethren ;  how  that  not  many  wise  men  after  the 
flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not  many  noble  call  you.  But  God 
hath  chosen  the  foolish  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the 
wise ;  and  God  hath  chosen  the  weak  things  of  the  world 
to  confound  the  things  which  are  mighty  ;  and  base  things 
of  the  world,  and  things  which  are  despised,  hath  God  cho- 
sen ;  yea,  and  things  which  are  not,  to  bring  to  naught 
things  that  are  ;  that  no  flesh  should  glory  in  His  presence. 
But  of  Him  are  ye  in  Christ  .lesus,  who,  of  God,  is  made 
unto  us  wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and  sanctification,  and 
redemption.  That,  according  as  it  is  written,  He  that  glori- 
fieth,  let  him  glory  in  the  Lord." — 1  Cor.,  i.,  17-31. 

Now,  he  it  remembered,  the  v/hole  of  this  magnificent 
passage  is  spoken  of  the  preaching  of  the  Cross,  in  distinc- 
tion from  the  administration  of  the  sacraments,  or  at  least  of 
one  of  them ;  and  is  therefore  as  strictly  as  possible  to  our 
purpose.  This  preaching  the  apostle  styles,  in  different 
parts  of  the  passage,  "  the  foolishness  of  preaching  ;"  "  the 
foolish  things  of  the  world  ;"  "  the  weak  things  of  the 
world  ;"  nay,  by  one  of  the  most  startling  of  figures,  he 
terms  it  "  the  foolishness  of  God,"  and  "  the  weakness  of 
Gcd,"  in  reference  to  the  estimate  put  upon  it  by  the  self- 
conceited  philosophers  of  ancient  times. 

I  have  ventured,  with  Macknight,  to  change  one  expres- 
sion in  the  commoidy  received  version.  I  refer  to  the 
words  "  are  called,^''  in  the  26th  verse.     These  are  want- 

E 


50        PKEACHING   THE    RIGHT    BANB    OF  THE   SPIKIT, 

ing  in  the  original ;  and  in  filling  the  blank,  it  is  absolutely 
required  by  the  scope  of  the  writer  to  substitute  the  words 
"  call  you.''''  "  Ye  see  'ifour  callings  brethren  ;  how  that  not 
many  wise  men  after  the  flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not  many 
jfioble,  call  you"  or  have  been  employed  in  your  calling. 
God  hath  not  employed  men  of  learning,  men  of  office,  and 
men  of  rank,  in  calling  you ;  but  rather  the  unlearned,  the 
obscure,  and  the  untitled,  like  Peter,  and  James,  and  John  ; 
and  He  has  done  this  for  the  very  purpose  of"  staining  the 
pride  of  all  glory"  in  man  ;  of  showing  that  the  preaching 
of  the  Cross  does  not  depend  for  success  on  human  learn- 
ing, office,  or  nobility  j  but  on  the  power  of  God  as  it  re- 
sides in  the  mighty  doctrine. 

Tlius  rendered,  the  whole  passage  is  still  more  pertinent 
to  my  purpose  ;  and,  did  the  limits  which  I  have  assigned 
myself  allow,  I  should  delight  in  putting  the  whole  into 
ample  paraphrase.  Perhaps,  however,  it  is  well  that  my 
limits  forbid  this  ;  for  nothing,  surely,  can  make  the  general 
sense  of  the  apostle  more  plain  ;  and  nothing  can  add  to  the 
weight  of  his  strong  and  ponderous  meaning.  I  will  sim- 
ply add,  therefore,  that  I  have  given  it  entire,  because  it 
can  not  be  broken  without  weakening  its  force,  in  demon- 
strating the  pre-eminent  honor  which  God  has  put  upon 
the  ordinance  of  preaching,  and  the  reverential  estimate  in 
which  He  would  have  us  hold  it,  as  what  I  must  repeatedly 
term,  the  right  hand  of  His  Spirit  in  wielding  the  Sword  of 
His  Word  far  the  salvation  of  men. 

There  are  other  passages  of  equal  pertinency,  from  this, 
and  from  other  apostles,  to  the  same  point.  But  they  are 
loo  numerous  for  citation  and  comment,  and  would  merely 
add    numericalhj  to   the    illustrations    already    given.*       I 

*  See^  among  other  passages,  the  following:  1  Cor.,  ii.,  1-7  ;  ix.,  16; 
XV.,  1,  2.  2  Cor.,  iv.,  1-7.  Gal.,  i.,  6-9.  Eph.,  vi.,  19,  20.  Phil.,  i.,  14-19. 
Col.,  i.,  24-29.  1  Tbess.,  ii.,  4-13.  2  Thess.,  iii.,  1.  1  Tim.,  ii.,  6,  7. 
2  Tim.,  i.,  11 ;  ii.,  15 ;  iii.,  16, 17 ;  iv.,  1-5.  Tit.,  i.,  9-11.  James,  i.,  21-25. 
1  Pet.,  i.,  22-25.    Rev.,  xiv.,  6. 


PREACHING    THE    RIGHT    HAND    OF    THE    SPIRIT.         51 

close,  therefore,  with  a  remark  or  two  on  what  has  been 
said. 

The  principal  results,  then,  which  have  now  been  reach- 
ed are  these  two :  that  the  sacraments  were  intended,  not 
for  the  instrumental  origination  of  the  new  life  in  the  soul, 
and  the  conveyance  of  pardon  or  justifying  grace,  but  for 
administration  to  those  who,  through  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  made  effectual  by  the  Spirit,  have  previously  been 
brought  to  repentance  and  faith  in  Christ ;  or  who,  if  m- 
fants,  are  in  baptism  placed  amid  the  means  of  their  subse- 
quent renewal  unto  righteousness  and  true  holiness ;  but, 
that  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  crucified,  in  sea- 
son and  out  of  season,  in  the  face  of  persecution  and  death, 
with  boldness  and  fidelity,  in  love  and  long  suffering,  was 
the  one  mighty  labor  to  which  the  first  ministers  of  Christ 
were  devoted,  and  in  which  they  wore  out  their  lives  for 
the  conversion  and  salvation  of  their  fellow-men. 

Since,  therefore,  the  character  and  objects  of  the  minis- 
try have  not  since  changed,  it  is  evident  that  the  teaching 
which  is  becoming  so  prevalent  among  us,  "  That  the  sac- 
raments, not  preaching,  are  the  sources  of  Divine  grace," 
is  unscriptural,  and  can  not  be  held  consistently  with  the 
Bible.  In  saying,  moreover,  that  this  teaching  involves  a 
serious  error,  we  detract  not  from  the  value  of  the  sacra- 
ments themselves,  nor  from  that  profound  reverence  and  af- 
fection with  which  they  should  ever  be  regarded  as  the  or- 
dinances of  Christ.  On  this  point  I  purpose  to  speak  more 
particularly  at  a  future  stage  of  the  discussion. 

For  the  present,  let  us  bless  God  for  the  Gospel  which 
He  has  sent  us,  and  for  that  ministry  of  living  men  in  the 
preaching  of  that  Gospel  through  which  the  Holy  Spirit 
seeks  to  bring  the  power  of  Divine  truth  into  action  within 
our  minds.  In  this  preaching,  now  as  of  old,  holy  influen- 
ces meet  men.  Let  us  beware  how  we  resist  them,  or 
even  trifle  with  them  amid  the  dallying  of  procrastination. 


52  EFFECTS  OF  PREACHING  AND  THE  SACRAMENTS. 

Sacred,  though  viewless,  realities  are  about  us.  God,  Fa- 
ther, Son,  and  Spirit,  is  seeking  the  salvation  of  our  souls. 
And  eternal  life  or  everlasting  death  must  be  the  issue 
of  the  eflbrt  which  He  is  making,  and  of  the  manner  in 
which  we  are  affected  by  that  effort.  Let  us  not  "  receive 
this  grace  of  God  in  vain,"  but  so  yield  to  it  that  "the 
preaching  of  the  Cross"  may  prove  to  us  neither  "  a  stum- 
bling block"  nor  "  foolishness,"  but  "  the  power  of  God  and 
the  wisdom  of  God,"  to  the  salvation  of  our  souls. 


CHAPTER  HI. 

COMPARATIVE    VIEW    OF    THE     EFFECTS     OF    PREACHING    AND 
THE    SACRABIENTS. 

Mark,  xvi.,  15,  16  :  "  Preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature  :  he  that  be- 
lieveth  and  is  baptized,  shall  be  saved." 

Luke,  xxii.,  19  :  "  This  do  in  remembrance  of  me." 

These  passages  show  that  the  instructions  which 
Christ  gave  his  ministers  bound  them  to  do  two  things  : 
to  preach  His  Gospel,  and  to  administer  His  sacraments. 
The  implication  is,  not  that  they  were  to  do  nothing 
else,  but  that  these  they  must  do,  whatever  else  was 
either  done  or  left  undone. 

I  have  already  remarked,  in  substance,  that  the  most 
vital  fact  included  in  the  Gospel  is,  the  Sacrifice,  which 
Christ  perfected  on  the  Cross,  as  an  atonement  for  sin. 
This  was  that  sublime  consummation,  without  which 
He  had  left  the  bosom  of  the  Father  in  vain.  "  It  be- 
hooved Christ  to  suffer."  Teaching  alone  would  not  have 
redeemed  a  world.  The  cup,  which  the  Father  gave 
the  Son  to  drink,  could  not  pass  away.  It  was  neces- 
sary that  he  should  exhaust  it,  or  leave  His  design  of 
mercy  unaccomplished. 


EFFECTS  OP  PREACHING  AND  THE  SACRAMENTS.  53 

Now,  to  this  work  of  atonement  by  sacrifice  both  the 
Christian  sacraments  have  an  admitted  reference.  In 
the  former^  we  are  represented  as  "  baptized  into  His 
death." — Rom.,  vi.,  3.  That  is,  baptism  emblematizes 
the  death  of  Christ,  in  so  far  as  it  teaches,  in  emblem, 
what  Christ's  sacrifice  demands  of  us — "  a  death  unto 
sin,  and  a  new  birth  unto  righteousness."  Baptism  rep- 
resents what  the  death  of  Christ  requires  should  be 
wrought  in  the  sinner. 

In  the  latter  sacrament,  we  are  represented  as  having 
"the  communion  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ."  — 
1  Cor.,  X.,  16.  The  Lord's  Supper,  in  the  fullest  sense, 
symbolizes  the  sacrifice  of  atonement.  It  teaches,  in 
symbol,  that  "  without  the  shedding  of  blood  is  no  remis- 
sion." The  Lord's  Supper  represents  what  Christ,  in  His 
death,  has  graciously  and  actually  donejfor  the  sinner. 
Thus  far  all  rightly  instructed  Christians  agree.  Dif- 
ference arises  on  another  point.  Did  Christ  intend  to 
give  effect  to  his  work  of  atonement,  to  communicate 
the  benefits  of  His  passion,  to  generate  the  principle  of 
a  new  and  holy  life  in  the  soul,  and  to  bring  us  to  the 
actual  enjoyment  of  pardon,  justification,  adoption,  by 
the  gift  of  His  Spirit  in  the  use  of  the  sacraments,  or  by 
the  influences  of  His  Spirit  through  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  ? 

In  discussing  this  important  point,  I  have  thus  far 
been  led  to  the  view,  which  sees,  not  in  the  sacraments, 
but  in  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  the  very  right  hand 
of  the  Spirit  in  wielding  the  Sword  of  Truth  ;  not  be- 
cause such  is  the  view  taken  by  multitudes  of  learned 
as  well  as  pious  divines  of  the  Church,  but  because 
such  appears  to  be  the  view  given  by  the  Bible  itself. 
I  have  shown  that,  in  the  New  Testament,  the  only  part 
of  the  Bible  which  furnishes  testimony  on  this  point, 
the  main  stress,  in  the  work  of  saving  men,  is  laid  on 

E2 


54  EFFECTS  OF  PREACHING  AND  THE  SACRAMENTS). 

preaching  :  whether  we  look  at  Christ's  own  ministry, 
at  His  various  comnnissions  to  the  Twelve,  at  their  ac- 
tion under  those  commissions,  or  at  the  language  of  the 
New  Testament  writers  when  speaking  of  the  sacra- 
ments and  of  preaching,  whether  separately  or  in  con- 
nection. As  Christ's  great  though  not  solitary  act  was 
the  making  of  an  atonement  for  sin,  so  the  great  though 
not  exclusive  work  of  his  ministers  was  to  be,  and  ac- 
tually became,  the  proclamation  of  that  atonement,  the 
"preaching  of  the  Cross" — the  preaching  of  "Jesus 
Christ,  and  Him  crucified."  The  ministry  itself  is 
termed,  by  the  Apostle  Paul,  "  the  ministry  of  recon- 
ciliation j"  and  then  the  trust  committed  to  this  minis- 
try is  termed  by  him  "  the  Word  of  reconciliation,"  not 
the  sacrament  of  reconciliation.  Ministers  themselves 
are  denominated  "  ambassadors  for  Christ,"  not  offerers 
of  sacrifice  at  His  altar ;  and  their  work  is  described  as 
consisting,  not  in  "  making  the  bread  and  wine  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ,"  but  in  "  praying  men,  in  Christ's 
stead,  as  though  God  did  beseech  us  by  them,  to  be 
reconciled  to  Him." 

I.  But,  if  such  be  the  true  place  of  the  Divine  ordi- 
nance of  preaching,  as  assigned  in  the  Bible,  may  we 
not  expect,  when  we  come  to  trace  the  history  of  the 
Church,  to  find  a  correspondence  between  this  view 
and  the  facts  of  the  case  1  I  reply,  undoubtedly ;  nor 
will  our  expectation  be  disappointed.  After  the  effu- 
sion of  the  Spirit  on  the  Church,  we  find  that,  wherever 
the  ordinance  of  preaching  was  most  abundantly  and 
faithfully  used,  there  were  exhibited  most  of  the  results 
of  repentance  and  faith,  of  an  effectual  taking  hold  of 
that  eternal  life,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus.  To  speak 
first  of  apostolic  times  : 

1.  Such  were  the  effects  of  Philip's  labors,  when  he 
"  went  down  to  the  city  of  Samaria,  and  preached  Christ 


EFFECTS  OF  PREACHING  AND  THE  SACBAMENTS,  55 

unto  them."  *'  They  believed  Philip,  preaching  the 
things  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  were  baptized,  both  men  and 
women." — Acts,  viii.,  5,  12.  Such,  too,  were  the  effects 
of  Peter's  preaching  in  the  house  of  Cornelius,  where 
the  first  Gentile  congregation  were  "  present  before 
God,  to  hear  all  things  commanded  of  God."  "  While 
Peter  yet  spake^  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  all  them  that 
heard  the  Word.''"' — Acts,  x.,  33,  44.  And  such,  more  re- 
markably, were  the  effects  of  Peter's  first  sermon  to  a 
congregation  of  Jews.  The  Holy  Ghost  having  been 
silently  given  while  Peter  preached  the  Word,  "  there 
were  the  same  day  added"  to  the  disciples  "  about  three 
thousand  souls." — Acts,  ii.,  41. 

Similar  facts  are  continually  recurring  in  the  sacred 
records.  Thus,  immediately  after  the  apostles  had  de- 
cided, "It  is  not  reason  that  we  should  leave  the  Word 
ofGod,and  serve  tables;"  and  had  taken  the  resolution, 
"  We  will  give  ourselves  continually  to  prayer  and  to 
the  ministry  of  the  Word  ;"  we  find  that  '■'■the  Word  of 
God  increased,  and  the  number  of  the  disciples  multiplied 
in  Jerusalem  greatly,  and  a  great  company  of  the  priests 
were  obedient  to  the  faith." — Acts,  vi.,  2,  4,  7.  Thus, 
too,  when,  "by  the  space  of  two  years,"  Paul  had  been 
preaching  the  Gospel  in  Ephesus,  "  so  that  all  they  that 
dwelt  in  Asia  heard  the  Word  of  the  Lord  Jesus^  both 
Jews  and  Greeks;"  when  the  evil  spirits  had  refused 
to  be  adjured  by  that  ^'  Jesus  whom  Paul  preac/W,"  and 
when  the  "  many  that  believed  came  and  confessed  and 
showed  their  deeds  ;"  and  the  "  many,  also,  of  them 
which  used  curious  arts,  brought  their  books  together 
and  burned  them  before  all,''  to  the  value  of  "  fifty 
thousand  pieces  of  silver  ;"  we  have  the  strikingly  illus- 
trative comment  of  the  sacred  historian,  "  So  mightily 
grew  the  Word  of  God  and  prevailed  1" — Acts,  xix., 
1-20,  passim- 


56  EFFECTS  OF  PREACHING  AXD  THE  SACRAMENTS, 

2.  All  the  passages,  thus  far  cited,  in  reference  to  the 
ordinance  o[  preachirrg,  speak  of  it,  more  or  less  directly, 
as  the  great  instrument  used  by  the  Spirit  in  bringing 
men  to  repentance  and  faith ;  in  generating  in  the  soul 
the  principle  of  a  new  and  spiritual  life.  And  it  is  re- 
markable thaty  when  speaking  of  this  glorious,  this  de- 
signed result  of  all  Christ's  labors  and  sufferings,  as 
practically  developed,  the  Scriptures  never  once  allude 
to  the  sacraments  as  the  instrument  which  was  used. 
It  is  true  that  Bishop  Beveridge,  in  his  ''  Sermon  on 
Frequent  Communion,"  has  attempted  to  show  that  this 
sacrament  was  at  first  administered  daily,  or,  at  least, 
every  Lord's  Bay.  But,  in  both  points,  he  has  strained 
his  proofs  beyond  what  they  are  able  to  bear.  As  his 
argument  leads  us  to  the  Scriptures,  it  may  not  be 
amiss  to  follow  its  principal  steps.  It  rests  on  three 
passages-;  one  from  the  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthian?, 
and  two  from  the  book  of  the  Acts. 

(1.)  To  the  Corinthians,  the  apostle  gives  the  insti- 
tuting words  of  Christ,  as  specially  revealed  to  him,  and 
among  them,  the  expression,  "  This  do,  as  oft  as  ye  drink 
it,  in  remembrance  of  me.^'^ — 1  Cor.,  xi.,  25.  Now,  from 
this,  it  is  argued,  that  it  was  Christ''s  "  meaning  and 
pleasure  that  they  should  often  do  it,  so  often  as  they 
met  together  to  perform  their  public  devotions  to  Him', 
if  it  was  possible  ;  or,  at  least,  upon  the  Lord's  Day  ;"* 
as  if  Christ  had  said,  "  This  do  (as  ye  are  often  to  drink  it) 
in  remembrance  of  me."  It  is  needless,  even  ta  an  Eng-- 
lish  scholar,  to  say,  that  this  is  a  mistake  of  the  force  of 
language.  Our  Savior's  words  bear  no  more  than  this: 
that,  "  as  often  as'''  ('ocraKig),  or  whenever,  his  disciples 
partook  of  His  Supper,  they  should  do  so  in  memory  of 
Him.     Whether  this  should  be  once  a  day,  or  once  a 

*  Bishop  Beveridge,  quoted  in  tte  "  Tracts  far  the  Times,"  New- York 
«d.,  voL  i,  p.  176. 


EFFECTS    OF    PREACHING    AND    THE    SACRAMENTS.     57 

week,  or  once  a  month,  is  a  question  which  they  leave 
wholly  untouched  ;  unless,  indeed,  as  the  word  "  drink" 
is  not,  in  the  original,  followed  by  the  pronoun  "  zV,"  we 
take  the  passages  thus  :  "  This  do,  as  oft  as  ye  drink,  in 
remembrance  of  me."  Then,  in  truth,  we  should  have 
the  communion  with  sufficient  frequency,  as  often  as  the 
Christian  slaked  his  thirst ;  and,  what  is  more,  every 
man  his  own  administrator  of  the  mystery  !     Again  : 

(2.)  In  the  book  of  the  Acts,  after  recording  the  case 
of  the  three  thousand,  it  is  said,  "  They  continued  stead- 
fastly in  the  apostles'  doctrine  and  fellowship,  and  in 
breaking  of  bread  and  in  prayers."  It  is  also  added  that, 
"continuing  daily  in  the  Temple,  and  breaking  bread 
from  house  to  house,  they  did  eat  their  meat  with  glad- 
ness and  singleness  of  heart." — Acts,  ii.,  4-2,  46.  From 
this  it  is  argued  that,  "  As  they  continued  daily  in  the 
Temple,  at  the  hours  of  prayer,  to  perform  their  solemn 
devotions  there,  so  they  daily  received  the  Holy  Sacra- 
ment, and  ate  this  spiritual  food  '  with  gladness  and 
singleness  of  heart  :'  this  being,  indeed,  the  chief  part 
of  their  devotions,  whensoever  they  could  meet  together 
to  perform  them."*  Here,  it  is  obvious,  the  premises 
are  too  narrow  for  the  conclusion  which  they  are  forced 
to  support.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Jews,  who 
hated  and  had  just  crucified  their  Messiah,  were  still 
masters  of  their  own  Temple,  and  kept  up  there  the 
daily  service  of  their  own  worship.  It  is,  therefore, 
somewhat  doubtful  whether  they  would  ViWovf  persecuted 
Christians  to  come  there  daily  at  the  hour  of  that  wor- 
ship and  celebrate  what  must  have  been  to  them  the 
odious  sacrament  of  the  death  of  Christ,  side  by  side 
with  the  revered  rites  of  their  own  dispensation.  But, 
besides  this,  the  text  does  not  say,  nor  imply,  that  they 
broke  bread  daily.  It  says,  indeed,  that  they  went  daily 
*  Bishop  Beveridge,  quoted  in  the  Tracts,  N.  Y.  ed.,  vol.  i.,  p.  175. 


58    EFFECTS    OP    PREACHING    AND   THE    SACRAMENTS. 

to  the  Temple :  but  this  means  no  more  than  that,  though 
the  Jewish  dispensation  was  ecclesiastically  at  an  end, 
yet,  as  the  Temple  worship  was  still  outwardly  main- 
tained, so  the  disciples,  being  themselves  Jews,  still 
continued,  as  their  Master  had  done,  to  frequent  that 
worship,  though  for  the  simple  purpose  of  joining  in  its 
ancient,  and,  as  yet,  undisplaced  forms.  As  to  the 
Lord's  Supper,  the  text  says,  they  "  continued  steadfastly 
in  the  breaking  of  bread  :"  but  then,  steadfastness  implies 
not  any  particular  degree  of  frequency.  They  might 
have  been  sufficiently  steadfast  in  the  custom,  though  it 
had  been  but  of  monthly  occurrence.  What  is  said  of 
"  breaking  bread  from  house  to  house,"  and  of  "  eating 
their  meat  with  gladness  and  singleness  of  heart,"  car- 
ries no  reference  to  the  frequency  of  the  sacrament  in 
the  former  clause,  if  it  carry  any  reference  to  the  sacra- 
ment at  all ;  while  the  latter  unquestionably  refers  to  the 
ordinary  meals  of  the  first  Christians.  To  make  "  eating 
their  meat"  here  refer  to  the  sacrament,  is  to  introduce 
a  new  and  strange  kind  of  transubstantiation.  It  is  to 
change  the  elements,  not  into  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ,  but  into  men's  ordinary  food  ;  for  the  word  ren- 
dered "  meat"  [rpocprjg),  means  the  common  and  nutri- 
tious aliment  of  our  bodies.  In  truth,  the  whole  force 
of  both  these  clauses  is  evidently  this :  that,  as  the  first 
Christians  were  led,  by  stress  of  circumstances,  to  "  have 
all  things  common,  to  sell  their  possessions  and  goods, 
and  part  them  to  all,  as  every  man  had  need,"  so  they  so- 
cially and  generously  lived  together,  taking  their  food 
sometimes  in  one  house,  and  sometimes  in  another,  and 
sharing  their  common  bounties,  not  with  the  dissocial, 
thankless,  and  selfish  spirit  of  those  who  hoard  for  them- 
selves, and  grudge  what  they  have  hoarded,  but  with 
the  joyful  and  single  hearts  of  men  who  live  not  unto 
themselves,  but  unto  the  Lord. 


EFFECTS  OF  PREACHING  AND  THE  SACRAMENTS.  59 

(3.)  And,  again,  in  the  same  book  it  is  said,  "Upon 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  when  the  disciples  came  to- 
gether to  break  bre<id^  Paul  preached  unto  them  (ready 
to  depart  on  the  morrow),  and  continued  his  speech 
until  midnight." — Acts,  xx.,  7.  From  this  it  is  argued 
thus:  "  It  is  true,  St.  Paul,  being  to  go  away  next  day, 
he  took  that  opportunity,  when  they  were  met  together 
for  that  end"  (the  breaking  of  bread),  "  to  give  them  a 
sermon.  But  that  was  not  the  end  of  their  meeting  to- 
gether at  that  time.  They  did  not  come  to  hear  a  ser- 
mon, though  St.  Paul  himself  was  to  preach;  but  they 
came  together  to  administer  and  receive  Christ's  mys- 
tical body  and  blood  ;  which  plainly  shows  that  this 
was  the  great  work  they  did  every  Lord's  Day."*  But 
this,  certainly,  is  quite  too  sudden  and  too  long  a  leap 
from  premises  to  conclusion.  The  fact  that  they  came 
together  on  that  particular  Lord's  Day  to  break  bread, 
no  more  proves  that  they  did  so  every  Lord's  Day,  than 
the  fact  that  some  of  our  parishes  meet  for  communion 
once  a  month  proves  that  they  meet  for  that  purpose 
once  a  week.  On  the  contrary,  so  far  as  the  remark  in 
the  text  proves  any  thing,  it  proves  that,  as  that  partic- 
ular day  was  mentioned  as  communion  day,  there  were 
other  Sundays  on  which  there  was  no  communion.  Had 
the  apostle  said,  "  Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week,  when 
the  disciples  came  together  to  break  bread,  as  they  were 
wont  to  do  every  Lord's  Day,"  the  proof  of  the  point 
had  been  complete.  But,  as  he  adds  no  such  interpret- 
ing clause,  he  in  fact  leaves  the  question  o[  frequency 
in  this  sacrament  still  untouched.  Gravely  to  argue, 
therefore,  from  such  premises,  that  the  giving  and  re- 
ceiving of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  the  great  business  of 
every  Lord's  Day ;  and  to  imply  that  preaching  was  but 

*  Bishop  Beveridge,  quoted  in  the  "Tracts  for  the  Times,"  N.  Y.  ed., 
''X.  i.,  p.  175. 


60    ZFFECTa    OF    PREACHING    AND   THE   SACRAMEKT3, 

a  sort  of  incident  by  the  way,  the  occasional  partings 
address  of  a  journeying  apostle,  is  not  only  to  disre- 
gard the  main  current  of  Scripture  testimony,  but  to 
strain  a  particular  text  for  proof  till  it  breaksy  and  leaves 
the  conclusion  at  an  unapproachable  distance  from  the 
premises. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  I  am  not  opposing  fre- 
quent communions.  On  the  contrary,  I  incline  to  the 
opinion  that,  in  the  apostles'  times,  they  were  both 
more  frequent  and  more  simple  than  they  are  in  our 
days  and  in  our  Church.  Possibly  they  did  occur  every 
Lord's  Day  ',  and,  certainly,  they  were  very  simple  cer- 
emonies. They  were  called,  not,  in  the  imposing  phrase 
of  later  periods,  "  the  Holy  Sacrament  of  the  altar  j" 
but,  in  the  language  of  men  who  had  learned  of  a  sub- 
limely simple  Teacher,.  "  the  breaking  of  bread.''''  Thejr 
doubtless  approached  vastly  nearer  in  simplicity  than 
they  did  in  frequency^  to  an  ordinary  meal.  And  this, 
in  connection  with  the  possible  fact  that  they  were 
somewhat  frequent,  accounts  readily  for  the  gross  abuse 
into  which  the  still  sensual  Corinthians  so  early  carried 
the  Christian's  feast,  by  turning  it  into  an  occasion  of 
common  and  profane  excess.  In  the  undiscerning  state 
of  their  minds,  they  slid  easily  from  so  simple  a  ceremo- 
ny into  the  actual  excesses  of  commom  eating  and  drink- 
ing. What  I  have  been  endeavoring  to  show,  however, 
is  this:  that  it  is  impossible  to  decide,  either  from  the 
language  of  Scripture,  or  from  apostolic  practice,  ham 
frequent  their  seasons  of  communion  were ;  whether 
daily,  weekly,  semi-monthly,  or  monthly,  or  whether 
there  were  any  statedly  recurring  periods  for  the  ad- 
ministration of  this  Christian  ordinance.  And  it  is  now 
to  my  purpose  to  add  that,  however  frequent  their  sea- 
sons of  communion  were,  this  does  not  in  the  least  de- 
tract  from  the   proofs  which  have   been   given    that 


EFFECTS  OF  PREACHING  AND  THE  SACRAMENTS.  61 

preaching  the  Gospel,  not  administering  the  sacra- 
ments, was  the  main  labor  of  the  apostles'  ministry, 
and  the  great  instrument,  in  the  hands  of  the  Spirit,  for 
generating  the  new  life  in  the  soul,  and  thus  rendering 
effectual  to  salvation  the  atoning  sacrifice  of  Christ. 

3.  But  it  is  time  to  trace  this  comparison  into  the 
history  of  later  periods.  Look,  then,  at  the  experi- 
ence of  the  Church  in  the  Middle  Ages ;  that  pro- 
tracted period,  when  she  made  almost  every  thing  of 
the  sacraments,  and  comparatively  little  of  preaching. 
What  was  her  condition  then  1  It  was  one  of  deep, 
and  almost  universal  spiritual  death.  The  two  simple 
sacraments,  instituted  by  her  Divine  Head,  had  become 
extremely  artificial  and  awfully  corrupted.  To  these 
had  been  added  five  others,  fashioned  out  of  most  abu- 
sed and  perverted  things.  And  this  whole  cluster  of 
corrupted  and  multiplied  sacraments  had  come  to  be 
regarded  with  most  superstitious  awe  ;  as  though,  by  a 
miraculous  charm,  they  imparted  saving  grace,  new  life, 
and  holiness,  to  all  who,  not  being  in  mortal  sin,  re- 
ceived them.  Meanwhile,  the  Scriptures  were  locked 
up  in  dead  languages,  and  almost  unknown  to  the  peo- 
ple, and  even  to  the  lower  orders  of  the  clergy.  Oral 
tradition  was  virtually  their  law  ;  and  its  executor  the 
spiritual  despotism  of  the  hierarchy.  The  Ritual  of  the 
Church  was  excessively  cumbrous,  and  religion  was 
supposed  to  consist  so  wholly  in  a  strict  observance  of 
its  forms,  and  to  have  so  little  to  do  with  private  vir- 
tues of  character,  that  it  was  an  easy  thing  to  acquire 
the  reputation  of  being  remarkably  religious.,  while,  to 
the  knowledge  of  all,  a  man  was  scandalously  immoral. 

It  is  impossible,  in  few  words,  to  picture  the  whole 
extent  and  aggravation  of  that  spiritual  death  which 
then  reigned  over  the  heritage  of  Christ,  and  which 
had  seized  so  deeply  on  both  people  and  clergy. 

F 


62     EFFECTS    OF    PREACHING   AND    THE    SACRAMENTS. 

I  inquire  not  now  whether  the  disuse  of  preaching 
led  to  this  multiplication  and  abuse  of  the  sacraments, 
or  whether  this  multiplication  and  abuse  of  the  sacra- 
ments led  to  the  disuse  of  preaching;  or  whether  some 
other  causes  had  come  in  to  corrupt  the  Church,  and 
to  produce  both  the  one  and  the  other  of  the  results 
noticed.  It  is  enough  to  know  the  simple  fact  that, 
when  sacraments  were  most  numerous  and  most  fre- 
quent, when  they  were  regarded  with  most  awe,  and 
trusted  with  most  confidence,  then  there  were  least 
preaching  and  most  ignorance,  darkest  superstition  and 
deepest  corruption.  From  whatever  cause,  the  Scrip- 
tures and  the  preaching  of  the  Cross  were  removed 
from  their  place  ;  and,  being  removed,  there  was  no  in- 
strument, in  the  use  of  which  the  Spirit  of  Christ  and 
the  Father  could  restore  to  its  pristine  glory  the  fallen 
and  decayed  body  of  the  Redeemer. 

4.  This  view  is  confirmed  by  following  history  a  lit- 
tle farther  still.  For,  at  the  Reformation,  when  a  large 
portion  of  the  Church  was  awakened  from  the  sleep  of 
ages,  the  work  had  its  very  beginning  in  the  secret 
study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  by  the  Monk  of  Erfurt, 
and  in  the  public  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  thus  again 
brought  to  the  knowledge  and  experience  of  its  minis- 
ters. In  the  progress  of  the  work,  the  Holy  Scriptures 
were  unlocked  from  the  dead  languages  of  antiquity, 
and  given  to  the  people  in  their  living  mother  tongues; 
and  the  ministers  of  the  Word  "  blew  the  trumpet"  bold- 
ly and  long  in  the  ears  of  the  sleepers,  awakening  mul- 
titudes to  life,  and  nerving  millions  to  action,  in  de- 
fense of  the  Gospel.  The  new  soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ 
brought  from  their  sacred  armory  the  long  unused,  and 
rusted,  but  still  heaven-tempered  weapons  of  Truth^ 
burnished  them  anew,  trained  themselves  to  their  use, 


EFFECTS  OP  PREACHING  AND  THE  SACRAMENTS.  63 

and  skilfully  wielded  them  in  the  work  for  which  they 
were  designed.  Then  it  again  "pleased  God,  by  the 
foolishness  of  preaching,  to  save  them  that  believed." 
Then  "  the  preaching  of  the  Cross"  was  again  made 
"the  power  of  God."  Once  more  "the  foolishness  of 
God"  was  shown  to  be  "  wiser  than  men,  and  the  weak- 
ness of  God  to  be  stronger  than  men." 

Of  the  facts  now  noticed,  that,  during  the  Middle 
Ages,  preaching  had  been,  if  not  unknown,  at  least  al- 
most unused  ;  and  that,  at  the  Reformation,  it  came 
again  into  eager  requisition,  there  is  no  lack  of  illustra- 
tion. Perhaps  as  strong  a  one  as  can  be  given — all  the 
stronger  for  being  of  Prot^tant  origin— ^is  found  in 
this,  that  even  Elizabeth,  the  patron  queen  of  the  Eng- 
lish Reformation,  still  retained  so  much  of  the  prejudi- 
ces of  earlier  times,  that  she  set  herself  openly  against 
what  were  then  termed  '^prophesyings,^''  or  meetings  of 
the  clergy  for  preaching  several  days  together.  Against 
good  Archbishop  Grindal,  the  father  and  favorer  of 
those  meetings,  she  was  deeply  incensed,  and  intima- 
ted to  him  personally  her  royal  pleasure  that  "  the  num- 
ber of  preachers  should  be  abridged,"  and  "all  learned 
conferences  among  the  ministers  of  the  Church  utterly 
subverted."  In  his  written  reply,*  the  bold  bishop  de- 
clared, against  the  face  of  majesty,  that  her  "  speeches 
had  exceedingly  dismayed  and  discomforted  him." 
Like  a  true  man  of  God,  in  nothing  daunted  by  the 
voice  of  power,  stood  he  up  for  his  Master,  and  fear- 
lessly said  to  the  (in  this  matter)  misguided  queen, 
"God  forbid,  madam,  that  you  should  op^n  your  ears 
to  any  of  their  wicked  persuasions,  or  in  any  way  dimin- 
ish the  preaching  of  the  Gospel."    "  Where  it  is  thought 

*  Grindal's  Letter  to  the  Queen,  in  Fuller's  History  of  the  Church,  Lon- 
don, 1837,  p.  7  to  18.  Its  title  there  is,  "  The  most  remarkable  Letter  of 
Archbishop  Grindal,  in  Defense  of  Prophecies  and  Church  Jurisdiction." 


64  EFFECTS  OP  PREACHING  AND  THE  SACRAMENTS. 

that  the  reading  of  godly  Homilies,  set  forth  by  pub- 
lic authority,  may  suffice,  the  reading  of  Homilies  hath 
his  commodities,  but  it  is  nothing  comparable  to  the 
office  of  preaching.  The  godly  preacher  is  learned  in 
the  Gospel,  who  can  apply  his  speech  to  the  diversity  of 
times,  places,  and  hearers,  which  can  not  be  done  in  Hom- 
ilies." "  I  am  enforced,  with  all  humility,  yet  plainly, 
to  profess  that  I  can  not,  with  safe  conscience,  and  with- 
out the  offi^nse  of  the  majesty  of  God,  give  mine  assent 
to  the  suppressing  of  the  said  exercises  ;  much  less  can 
I  send  out  any  injunction  for  the  utter  and  universal 
subversion  of  the  same.  I  say  with  Paul,  '  I  have  no 
power  to  destroy,  but  only  to  edify  j'  and  with  the  same 
apostle,  '  I  can  do  nothing  against  the  truth,  but  for  the 
truth.'  " 

How  exactly  is  this  conceived  in  the  spirit  of  the 
apostles  at  Jerusalem,  who,  when  "  straitly  threatened 
to  speak  henceforth  to  no  man  in  the  name"  of  Christ, 
replied,  "  Whether  it  be  7-ight  in  the  sight  of  God  to 
hearken  unto  you  more  than  unto  God,  judge  ye  5  for 
we  cannot  but  speak  the  things  which  we  have  seen 
and  heard"  (Acts,  iv.,  19,  20) ;  and  who,  when  farther 
questioned  for  their  fidelity,  responded  in  the  calm  he- 
roism of  those  memorable  words,  "  We  ought  to  obey 
God  rather  than  men"  (Acts,  v.,  29)  ;  and  then  proceed- 
ed, in  the  very  face  of  their  persecutors,  to  preach  that 
sacred  name,  which  Jewish  prejudice  would  fain  have 
buried  in  '"aduring  oblivion!  The  Queen  of  England, 
indee'',  did  not  wish  to  put  the  name  of  Jesus  under  a 
ban:  farthest  from  it  5  but  she  had  been  so  little  accus- 
tomed to  a  fearless,  stirring,  and  frequent  preaching  of 
his  Gospel,  that  she  disliked  this  feature  in  the  Eefor- 
mation ;  a  dislike  for  which  her  brave  archbishop  re- 
proved  her,  with  a   manly  and    God-fearing   honesty 


EFFECTS  OF  PREACHING  AND  THE  SACRAMENTS.  65 

worthy  of  the  first  days  of  Christianity,  and  the  best 
apostles  of  Christ.* 

This  comparative  view  might  be  followed  much 
farther,  and  made  much  fuller.  But  the  limits  assign- 
ed to  the  discussion  have,  in  this  part,  been  already 
reached.  Enough,  I  trust,  has  been  said  to  show  that 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  is,  and  ever  should 
have  been,  the  great  work  of  all  his  ministers  jf  and 

*  The  following  extract  from  Hooker,  who  had  Jewel  for  his  patron  and 
Grindal  for  his  contemporary,  will  show  in  what  esteem  preaching  was  held, 
not  only  by  that  great  man  himself,  but  also  by  multitudes  besides,  whom 
the  Reformation  had  awakened  from  that  slumber  of  ages,  during  which 
the  pulpit  had  been  so  nearly  silent.  The  extract  shows  that  preaching 
had  risen  into  such  extravagant  repute  as  even  to  require  a  caution  lest  it 
should  bring  into  disuse  the  public  reading  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  churches  : 

"  So  worthy  a  part  of  Divine  service  we  should  greatly  wrong,  if  we  did 
not  esteem  preaching  as  the  blessed  ordinance  of  God  ;  sermons  as  keys  to 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  as  wings  to  the  soul,  as  spurs  to  the  good  affections 
of  man,  unto  the  sound  and  healthy  as  food,  as  physic  unto  diseased  minds. 
Wherefore,  how  highly  soever  it  may  please  them  with  words  to  extol  ser- 
mons, they  shall  not  herein  offend  us.  We  seek  not  to  derogate  from  any 
thing  which  they  can  justly  esteem,  but  our  desire  is  to  uphold  the  just  es- 
timation of  that  from  which,  it  seemeth  unto  us,  they  derogate  more  than 
becometh  them.  That  which  offendeth  us  is,  first,  the  great  disgrace  which 
they  offer  unto  our  custom  of  bare  reading  of  the  Word  of  God,  and  to  His 
gracious  Spirit,  the  principal  virtue  whereof  thereby  manifesting  itself  for 
the  endless  good  of  men's  souls,  even  the  virtue  which  it  hath  to  convert, 
to  edify,  to  save  souls  ;  this  they  mightily  strive  to  obscure  :  and,  secondly, 
the  shifts  wherewith  they  maintain  their  opinion  of  sermons ;  whereunto, 
while  they  labor  to  appropriate  the  saving  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  they 
separate  from  all  apparent  hope  of  life  and  salvation  thousands  whom  the 
goodness  of  Almighty  God  doth  no:  exclude." — Eccl.  Pol.,  book  v.,  (j  22, 
London,  1825,  p.  401. 

That  preaching  rose  into  such  repute,  was  proof  of  the  mighty  power 
which  it  exerted.  That  it  was  carried  by  some  to  such  a  height  of  regard 
as  to  be  considered  as  enjoying  the  exclusive  appropriation  of  the  power  of 
the  Spirit  in  saving  the  souls  of  men,  was  but  its  almost  necessary  recoil, 
for  a  season,  from  a  state  of  extreme  depression  to  one  of  extreme  exaltation. 

t  I  cannot  help  inserting  in  this  note  a  sentiment  which  I  have  just  found 
in  examining  the  manuscripts  of  the  late  Bishop  Griswold  : 

"The  apostles  would  '  give  themselves  continually  to  prayer,  and  to  the 
ministry  of  the  Word.'  How  different  the  conduct  of  those  dignitaries  of  the 
Church,  in  some  parts  of  the  world,  who,  when  they  have  reached  the  apo^- 

F2 


66   EFFECTS  OF  PREACHING  AND  THE  SACRAMENTS. 

that  it  is  not  without  reason  that  their  high  commis- 
sion sends  them,  first,  to  "  do  the  work  o{  evangelists  j^^ 
and,  second,  to  administer  the  sacraments  of  the  Church. 
II.  And  yet,  it  is  not  to  be  inferred  that  the  efficacy 
of  preaching  lies  peculiarly  in  human  power  ;  and  that 
man  is  to  be  extolled  for  success  in  this  work.  The 
true  view  of  this  point  has  already  been  given.  The 
whole  efficacy  of  ordinances,  whether  in  preaching  or 
in  the  sacraments,  resides  in  the  accompanying  influ- 
ences of  the  Holy  Spirit,  sealing  upon  the  mind  the 
meaning  and  the  power  of  Divine  truth.  To  make  the 
sacraments  the  main  channels  of  grace,  is  as  much  to 
exalt  human  power  as  to  make  preaching  the  main  chan- 
nel. The  truth  is,  human  power  is  nothing  in  either. 
In  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel,  the  man  is  put  out  of  view 
behind  the  commission  which  he  bears,  and  the  truths 
which  he  presents.  "  We  preach  not  ourselves,  but 
Christ  Jesus,  the  Lord  ;  and  ourselves  your  servants 
for  Jesus'  sake." — 2  Cor.,  iv,,  5.  "  God,  who  com- 
manded the  light  to  shine  out  of  darkness,  hath,"  in- 
deed, "  shined  in  the  hearts"  of  all  his  true  ministers, 
"  to  give  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God 
in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ"  (2  Cor.,  iv.,  6)  ;  and  hath 
thus  qualified  them  for  the  great  work  of  preaching  his 
Gospel,  teaching  them  "  to  renounce  the  things  of  dis- 
honesty ;  not  walking  in  craftiness,  nor  handling  the 
Word  of  God  deceitfully ;  but,  by  manifestation  of  the 
truth,  commending  themselves  to  every  man's  con- 
science in  the  sight  of  God." — 2  Cor.,  iv.,  2.  But,  then, 
"  We  have  this  treasure  in  earthen  vessels,  that  the 
excellency  of  the  power  may  be  of  God,  and  not  of  w*." 

tleship,  and  when  they  ought  to  be  the  '  servants  of  all,'  instead  of  giving 
themselves  continually  to  prayer,  and  to  the  ministry  of  the  Word,  neglect 
both  ;  employing  chaplains  to  pray  for  them,  and  settling  curates  to  preach! 
Well  might  Jewel  say,  '  A  bishop  should  die  preaching .''  " 


EFFECTS  OF  PREACHING  AND  THE  SACRAMENTS.  67 

— 2  Cor.,  iv.,  7.  Christ's  ministers  are  no  more  than 
earthen  vessels,  which  derive  their  whole  importance 
from  the  preciousness  of  the  treasure  which  they  con- 
tain j  and  this  treasure  has  been  put  in  such  frail  receiv- 
ers for  the  very  purpose  of  making  it  thereby  the  more 
manifest  that  the  whole  excellency  of  the  power,  felt  in 
preaching  the  Gospel,  is  of  God,  and  not  of  us.  I  re- 
member reading  somewhere  the  words  of  an  English 
preacher,  on  occasion  of  ordaining  a  young  brother  to 
the  ministry.  They  were  to  this  effect :  "  Your  work 
will  be  to  preach,  not  yourself,  but  Jesus  Christ;  and 
in  presenting  him  to  your  people,  you  must  be  like  a 
man  holding  up  to  view  a  picture  so  large  as  wholly 
to  conceal  himself.  Your  great  effort  must  be  to  let 
Christ  alone  appear  in  all  your  ministrations.  In  holding 
up  his  picture,  you  must  not  let  so  much  as  your  little 
finger  be  seen  by  your  audience."  Exactly  in  this  spirit 
are  the  w^ords  of  the  apostle :  "  Who  then  is  Paul,  and 
who  is  ^polios,  but  ministers  (servants),  by  whom  ye 
believed  even  as  the  Lord  gave  to  every  man  1  I  have 
planted;  Apollos  watered;  but  God  gave  the  increase. 
So,  then,  neither  is  he  that  planteth  any  thing,  neither 
he  that  watereth ;  but  God,  that  giveth  the  increase." 
— 1  Cor.,  iii.,  5,  7. 

Nor  yet  is  it  to  be  inferred,  from  what  has  been  said, 
that  those  who  hold  this  view  of  preaching,  do  in  any 
way  make  light  of  the  sacraments,  or  consider  them  of 
small  value  or  efficacy.  This  inference  would  do  great 
injustice  to  my  argument.  He  that  would  detract  from 
the  true  solemnity  and  preciousness  of  the  sacraments, 
betrays  either  a  sad  ignorance  of  their  nature  and  ob- 
ject, or  a  wicked  hostility  to  the  interests  of  Christ's 
religion.  The  true  ground  of  regret  is,  not  that  too 
much  has  been  made  of  the  sacraments  ;  but  that  they 
have  been  wrongly  understood,  and,  therefore,  wrongly 


68  EFFECTS  OF  PREACHING  AND  THE  SACRAMENTS. 

used.  The  value  of  a  faithful  preaching  of  the  Gospel 
may  be  extolled,  not  too  highly,  but  too  exclusively. 
Men  may  err  on  this  side  as  well  as  on  the  other ;  and 
in  this  error,  the  Church  has  had,  if  not  an  equally 
protracted  and  disastrous,  yet  a  truly  sore  and  sad 
experience.  When  ministers  rely  too  exclusively  on 
preaching  for  the  fruit  of  their  labors,  we  have  seen  a 
strong  tendency  to  the  multiplication  of  human  artifices 
and  management  for  the  purpose  of  giving  to  their  min- 
istry instant  and  enlarged  effect ;  and  perhaps  an  equally 
strong  tendency  to  the  puffing  up  of  the  vanity  and 
pride  of  the  human  heart  amid  the  apparent  evidences 
of  ministerial  success  ;  with  a  proneness  among  hearers 
to  run  after  popular  men  and  popular  measures,  rather 
than  to  seek  for  the  power  of  Christ,  the  Spirit  of  God, 
and  the  simplicity  of  Truth,  in  the  appointed  services 
of  his  Church.  As,  in  relying  on  sacraments  to  the  neg- 
lect of  preaching,  there  is  a  tendency  to  multiply,  cor- 
rupt, and  abuse  those  sacraments  by  human  additions 
and  conceits ;  so,  in  relying  on  preaching,  to  the  neg- 
lect of  sacraments,  there  is  an  opposite  tendency  to 
multiply,  vary,  and  misdirect  human  artifices  and  pop- 
ular measures,  with  the  view  of  giving  that  preaching 
greater  effect.  On  either  hand,  experience  has  taught 
the  Church  an  expensive,  indeed,  but  still  valuable  les- 
son ;  and,  in  the  light  thus  afforded,  the  true  question 
in  the  argument  before  us  is,  not  which  shall  be  ex- 
cluded, preaching  or  the  sacraments,  but  what  are  the 
true  place  and  importance  of  each  1  Before  closing, 
then,  this  branch  of  the  subject,  in  order  to  enter  on 
the  next  great  inquiry,  that  concerning  the  nature  of  the 
sacraments,  let  us  pursue  this  question  a  little  farther. 

III.  What,  then,  are  the  true  place  and  importance 
of  that  Divine  ordinance  which  we  have  in  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel  % 


EFFECTS  OP  PREACHING  AND  THE  SACRAMENTS.  69 

1.  The  citations  from  the  New  Testament  which 
have  been  made,  make  it  sufficiently  plain  that  this  or- 
dinance finds  its  principal  place  and  importance  in  its 
character  as  the  great  instrument,  in  the  hand  of  the 
Spirit,  for  the  conversion  of  men  from  sin  to  holiness  ; 
for  instructing,  convincing,  awakening,  and  renewing 
them  ;  for  bringing  them  to  true  repentance  and  a  living 
faith,  to  fervent  love  and  holy  obedience  ;  for  leading 
them  intelligently  and  unreservedly  to  Christ  as  the  only 
Savior  ;  and  thus  for  bringing  them  to  the  entrance,  and 
conducting  them  through  the  gate,  which  open  into 
the  way  of  life  eternal. 

To  this  its  high  office  the  ordinance  is  fitted  on  the 
principle  already  stated,  that  Truth  is  the  utterance,  the 
breath  of  the  Spirit.  It  is  the  very  converse  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  with  the  mind  of  man.  God  puts  Himself 
into  the  Truth,  and  thus,  to  the  measure  of  the  mind's 
capacities,  makes  Himself  understood,  comprehended,  and 
felt.  Now,  preaching  deals  with  Truth,  and  is  Christ's 
ordinance  for  dealing  with  it  most  effectually.  The 
chief  office  of  the  ministry  lies  in  "  rightly  dividing  the 
Word  of  Truth,''''  and  it  is  thus  that  the  servant  of  Christ 
"  shows  himself  approved  unto  God,  a  workman  that 
needeth  not  to  be  ashamed"  (2  Tim.,  ii.,  15)  ;  an  "able 
minister  of  the  New  Testament ;  not  of  the  letter''''  merely, 
"  but  of  the  Spirit''  (2  Cor.,  iii.,  6)  j  a  "  Scribe,"  well 
"  instructed  unto  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  and  "  bringing 
forth  out  of  his  treasures  things  new  and  old." — Matt., 
xiii.,  52.  Divine  truth  is  both  the  instrument  with 
which  the  Spirit  quickens  the  soul,  and  the  light  through 
which  the  soul  sees  God  and  all  eternal  things  ;  and  he 
who  best  knows  how  to  divide  this  truth,  to  separate  it 
into  its  several  offices,  and  to  point  the  arrows  of  its 
power  with  greatest  wisdom  and  skill,  is  the  ablest  min- 
ister of  the   New  Testament,  and  the  best  instructed 


70  EFFECTS  OF  PREACHING  AND  THE  SACRAMENTS. 

scribe  in  the  kingdom.  He  will  be  the  means  of  con- 
vincing most  men  of  sin,  and  of  bringing  most  to  the 
Savior. 

That  such  is  the  momentous  office  of  preaching, 
there  can,  I  think,  be  no  doubt  in  the  mind  of  him  who, 
with  unprejudiced  care,  studies  the  oracles  of  Truth  on 
this  point.  From  those  oracles,  and  the  confirming 
ways  of  God,  comes  a  voice  to  this  effect,  loud,  clear, 
and  not  to  be  misunderstood. 

2.  But,  though  this  is  the  principal,  yet  it  is  not  the 
only  office  of  preaching.  It  is,  still  farther,  one  of  the 
necessary,  and  even  a  principal  means  of  "building  up 
Christians  in  their  most  holy  faith,"  after  they  have 
been  brought  to  Christ  at  the  entrance  of  the  way  of 
life. 

Such  Christians  are  taught  of  Christ  to  look  to  God's 
Word  of  Truth  for  sanctification.  "  Sanctify  them  by 
thy  Truth  :  thy  Word  is  Truth."— John,  xvii.,  17.  They 
are  also  enjoined  by  an  apostle,  "  as  new-born  babes,  to 
desire  the  sincere  milk  of  the  Word,  that  they  may  grow 
thereby"  (1  Pet.,  ii.,  2);  to  "let  the  Word  of  Christ 
dwell  in  them  richly  in  all  wisdom"  (Col.,  iii.,  16)  ;  to 
^'  be  swift  to  hear^''  and  to  "  receive,  with  meekness,  that 
ingrafted  Word,  which  is  to  save  their  souhy  —  James, 
i.,  19,  21.  In  reference  to  the  different  strength  of 
the  doctrines  preached,  as  adapted  to  the  different 
progress  of  Christians  in  their  new  life,  the  apostle 
fed  some  "with  milk,^''  and  others  "with  meat"  (1  Cor., 
iii.,  1-3);  the  former,  as  being  "yet  carnal,^''  the  lat- 
ter as  having  become  "  spiritual  /"  the  one,  as  retain- 
in  stillsomething  of  low  and  gross  views  of  the  Gospel 
and  of  Christian  character,  the  other  as  having  reach- 
ed a  high  degree  of  knowledge,  purity,  and  perfectness 
in  the  heavenly  life  ;  the  one,  as  being  disposed  to 
"  envy,  strife,  and  divisions,"  the  other  as  seeing  deeply 


EFFECTS  OF  PREACHING  AND  THE  SACRAMENTS.  71 

into  the  generousness,  love,  and  union  which  should 
pervade  the  living  body  of  Christ.  All  these  results,  too, 
canf)e  through  the  various  degrees  of  thoroughness  with 
which  those  early  Christians  had  received  "  the  things 
which  were  freely  given  to  them  of  God  ;  which  things 
also"  the  apostles  '■'■spake,  not  in  the  words  which  man's 
wisdom  teacheth,  but  which  the  Holy  Ghost  teacheth ; 
comparing  spiritual  things  with  spiritual." — 1  Cor.,  ii., 
12,  13.  To  the  Hebrew  Christians,  some  of  whom  had 
probably  been  scribes  and  doctors  in  their  law,  and  who 
had  been  under  Christian  instruction  long  enough  to 
have  become  preachers  of  the  Gospel,  and  yet  were  still 
"  dull  of  hearing,"  the  apostle  writes  thus  :  "  For  when, 
for  the  time  ye  ought  to  be  teachers,  ye  have  need  that 
one  teach  you  again  which  be  the  first  principles  of  the 
oracles  of  God  ;  and  are  become  such  as  have  need  of 
milk,  and  not  of  strong  meat.  For  every  one  that  useth 
milk  is  unskilful  in  the  Word  of  righteousness,  for  he  is 
a  bahe.  But  strong  meat  belongeth  to  them  that  are  of 
full  age;  to  those  who,  by  reason  of  use,  have  their 
senses  exercised  to  discern  both  good  and  evil." — Heb., 
v.,  12-14.  What  Divine  skill  does  all  this  evince  in  so 
"  dividing  the  Word  of  Truth''''  as  to  build  up  true  Christ- 
ians from  one  degree  of  perfectness  to  another,  in  the 
Divine  life  ;  from  the  babe  to  the  man  of  full  age  ;  from 
the  carnal  to  the  spiritual ;  from  the  dull  of  hearing,  to 
those  who,  by  reason  of  use,  have  their  moral  senses 
exercised  to  discern  both  good  and  evil!  And  how  re- 
markable that,  in  all  this  work  of  building  up  Christians 
in  their  most  holy  faith,  the  Word,  the  Word,  is  the  only 
instrument  mentioned,  as  wielded  by  the  Spirit,  in  the 
hand  of  a  living  ministry  ! 

3.  There  is  a  farther  office  still  to  the  ordinance  of 
preaching.  It  is  that  of  a  means  by  which,  mainly,  Er- 
ror is  to  be  banished  from  among  the  people  of  God, 


72  EFFECTS  OF  PREACHING  AND  THE  SACRAMENTS. 

and  the  Church  preserved  in  the  purity  of  her  heaven- 
taught  doctrines.  Hence,  the  preachers  of  the  Gospel 
are  required  to  "  hold  fast  the  faithful  Word,  as  they 
have  been  taught,  that  they  may  be  able  bj'^  sound  doc- 
trine both  to  exhort  and  to  convince  the  gainsayers." — 
Tit.,  i.,  9.  And  though  it  is  not  exclusively,  yet  it  is 
most  distinguishingly,  the  work  of  the  ministry  to 
"  contend  earnestly  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints  ;"  seeing  there  are  ever  those  who  "  creep  in  un- 
awares— turning  the  grace  of  our  God  into  lascivious- 
ness,  and  denying  the  only  Lord  God,  and  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ." — Jude,  3,  4.  To  this  work  of  banishing  Error 
from  the  Church,  her  ministers  are  now  ordained,  as  an 
important  part  of  their  sacred  office  ;  and  it  is  a  work 
which  they  may  and  must  do  in  various  ways.  They 
must  preach  against  error  from  the  pulpit  and  from  the 
press  ;  at  one  time,  in  "  doctrine  which  shall  drop  as  the 
rain,  and  in  speech,  which  shall  distill  as  the  dew" 
(Deut.,  xxxii.,  2) ;  and  at  another,  in  that  strenuous  argu- 
mentation which  shall  mightily  confound  falsehood,  and 
in  that  vigorous  and  keen,  yet  calm  and  dignified  con- 
troversy, which  shall  effectually  sift  the  sophistry  and 
expose  the  lurking-places  of  error  ;  now  in  the  uttered 
homily,  by  which  they  may  most  quickeningly  "com- 
mend themselves  to  every  man's  conscience  in  the  sight 
of  God  ;"  and  now  in  the  imprinted  volume,  from  which, 
"though  dead,"  the  man  of  Christ  may  "yet  speak," 
and  preach  the  Gospel  of  His  saving  truth  to  genera- 
tions long  to  come  ;  that  they,  too,  the  yet  unborn,  may 
walk  in  truth,  and  be  not  led  away  of  falsehood. 

In  a  word,  to  sum  up  this  whole  point,  it  is  by  the 
preaching  of  his  Gospel,  in  all  varying  ways,  that  Christ, 
through  the  Spirit,  seeks  to  illumine  the  darkened  mind, 
and  to  renew  the  wicked  heart  of  "  the  natural  man ;" 
to  lay  the  foundations  of  holy  character  deep,  and  strong, 


EFFECl'S    OF    PREACHING    AND    THE    SACRAMENTS.     73 

and  broad,  in  the  understanding  and  in  the  affections ; 
to  build  up,  and  garnish  with  heavenly  graces,  the  struc- 
ture of  individual  holiness,  for  which  those  foundations 
are  laid ;  to  "  chase  away  erroneous  and  strange  doc- 
trines" from  the  Church  of  God  j  to  keep  truth  victori- 
ous, and  to  multiply  the  bright  and  blessed  conquests 
of  Christ's  spiritual  kingdom.  The  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  is  emphatically  that  "  greater  light"  which  Christ 
has  hung  in  the  firmament  of  his  Church  j  and  accord- 
ing as  that  light  shines  brightly  or  dimly,  from  a  cloud- 
less or  an  enclouded  sky,  this  Church  will  walk  as  in 
the  day,  or  stumble  as  in  darkness. 

IV.  But,  if  such  be  the  rank  held  by  the  ordinance 
of  preachings  what,  in  this  comparison,  are  the  true 
place  and  importance  of  the  sacraments  ?  The  inquiry 
now  is  not  into  their  nature,  but  into  their  moral  effect 
on  their  recipients. 

1.  As  to  baptism^  its  moral  effect  on  the  mind  of  infants 
is,  doubtless,  not  immediate^  but  prospective.  It  brings 
them  into  the  visible  Church,  and  into  external  covenant 
with  God,  It  seals,  or  certifies  to  them  t'he  truth  of  those 
Divine  promises,  which  are  to  the  people  of  God,  "  and 
to  their  children." — Acts,  ii.,  39.  It  gives  them  thus  a 
right  to  all  the  outward  privileges  of  their  relation.  It 
surrounds  them  with  the  breath  of  prayer,  and  with  the 
thoughtful  solicitudes  of  believing  and  watchful  Christ- 
ians. It  puts  them  to  school,  where  Christ  is  master, 
and  the  Spirit,  monitor  ;  the  Bible,  text-book  ;  and  wor-^ 
ship,  exercise  ;  Christians,  companions  ;  and  their  way, 
charity  ;  that  thus  their  earliest  faculties  and  first  open- 
ing reason  may  be  educated  for  heaven,  and,  if  possi- 
ble, get  light  and  power  from  God  before  they  contract 
more  than  original  darkness  and  corruption  from  the 
world.  Upon  all  this,  too,  it  brings  God's  covenanted 
blessing,  in  order  to  throw  a  brighter  hope,  and  gather 

G 


*i4    EFFECTS    OF    PRfiACHlN'G    AND    THE    SACRAMENTS'. 

a  more  cheering  encouragement  into  the  prospects  for 
eternity  of  the  seed  of  God's  people.  But  in  all  this, 
great  and  unspeakable  as  is  the  benefit,  the  moral  effect 
of  baptism  on  the  soul  is  necessaTily  prospective ;  and 
such  are  the  perils  of  this  world,  even  to  the  children 
of  Christians,  that  the  whole  priceless  good  may  be  lost. 
But  on  the  mind  of  adults,  if  they  come  to  it  with 
the  requisite  previous  preparation  of  the  heart — true 
repentance  and  a  lively  faith — the  moral  effect  of  bap- 
tism may  be  said  to  be  immediate.  And  yet,  this  effect 
does  not  come  as  from  a  sacred  charm,  or  from  the 
Spirit  indwelling  with  the  water  ;  but  rather,  to  use  the 
language  of  our  article,  to  such  "  faith  is  confirmed, 
and  grace  increased,  by  virtue  of  prayer  to  God." — Art. 
xxvii.  Coming  with  hearts  renewed,  and  minds  pre- 
pared, and  souls  longing  for  fuller  blessings,  they  feel 
that  it  is  good  thus  publicly  to  seal  themselves  Christ's, 
and  thus  openly  to  take  the  plighted  shield  of  God,  to 
keep  them  in  their  future  conflict  with  the  world.  Put- 
ting, therefore,  their  hearts  into  the  ascending  prayer 
of  the  Church,  they  realize  the  descending  grace  of  the 
Spirit,  and  go  forth  from  the  solemn  covenanting  strong 
in  the  faith,  resolved  in  their  purposes,  and  refreshed 
as  if  by  heavenly  dews  on  their  whole  nature. 

2.  As  to  the  Lord\<i  Supper,  in  its  moral  effect  on  the 
soul,  this,  to  true  Christians,  and  with  the  influences  of 
the  Spirit  filling  and  energizing  all,  is  doubtless  a  very 
eminent  means  of  grace.  Neither  the  Bible,  indeed,  nor 
our  Church,  teaches  Christians  to  bring  their  sins  after 
baptism  to  this  sacrament  for  remission.  On  the  con- 
trary, both  teach  them  to  come  with  clean  hands  and 
pure  hearts,  and  sins  forgiven  through  faith  in  Christ ; 
that,  thus  prepared  for  the  table  of  their  Lord,  they 
may  receive  the  real  blessings  which  await  them  there. 
And  these  blessings  are,  growth  in  true  love,  union,  pu- 


EFFECTS  OF  PREACHING  AND  THE  SACRAMENTS.  75 

nVy,  and  all  perfectness  of  Christian  character.  The 
sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  when  the  Church  is 
kept  pure  by  a  faithful  preaching  of  Christ  crucified — 
the  full  and  uncorrupt  Gospel — and  when  her  ministra- 
tions are  blessed  with  the  influences  of  the  overshadow- 
ing and  life-giving  Spirit,  is  an  ordinance  in  which  the 
Christian  comes  into  closest  communion  with  his  Sav- 
ior, and  feels  his  love  for  him  kindling  into  its  intensest 
glow  ;  in  which,  too,  he  comes  into  holiest  communion 
with  his  /eZZoz^-Christians,  of  all  ages  and  nations,  and 
feels  himself  most  inseparably  knit  to  them  in  "the 
communion  of  saints,"  in  the  union  of  the  great  mysti- 
cal body  of  Christ ;  and  in  which  he  realizes  a  peculiar 
strengthening  and  refreshing  of  his  soul  in  all  her  Di- 
vine and  heavenly  graces  of  faith  and  courage,  humility 
and  purity,  deadness  to  the  world,  and  desires  after 
heaven.  Through  the  divinely  ordained  symbol  of  the 
sacrifice  on  the  cross,  faith  feeds  on  all  the  benefits  of 
Christ's  passion,  enters  into  the  depths  of  that  union 
which  subsists  between  each  member  of  the  Body  and 
its  Head,  and  draws  a  happy  immortality  from  the 
Fountain  of  Life. 

I  think  it  proper  to  repeat,  that  what  I  have  here  said 
of  the  two  sacraments  refers  not  to  their  nature,  but  to 
their  effect,  as  means,  in  the  formation  and  growth  of 
Christian  character.  What  these  sacraments  are  in 
themselves,  or,  rather,  in  the  intention  of  their  Institutor, 
is  a  question  reserved  for  future  consideration. 

From  the  present  comparative  view,  we  have  seen 
what  are  the  place  and  importance,  respectively,  of  the 
Divine  ordinances  both  of  preaching  and  of  the  sacra- 
ments ;  neither  interfering  with  the  other,  but  both 
helping  sinful  man  from  the  world  into  the  Church, 
and  from  the  Church  up  to  heaven.  Their  relation 
stands  thus : 


76  EFFECTS  OF  PREACHING  AND  THE  SACRAMENTS. 

The  preaching  of  the  Gospel  is  ordained  to  bring 
men,  intelligently  and  by  their  own  personal  experience, 
to  Christ,  by  repentance  and  faith,  love  and  an  obedient 
surrender  of  themselves  to  His  service.  Baptism  is 
appointed  to  introduce  them  into  the  Visible  Church,  in 
infancy  if  they  are  the  children  of  believing  parents, 
and  in  riper  years  if  they  have  been  converted  from 
among  the  unbelieving.  And  then,  for  the  nourishment, 
growth,  and  perfecting  of  their  religious  life,  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel,  and  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, are  designed  jow^/?/  to  take  up  the  office  of  means, 
and  to  go  hand  in  hand  in  the  common  work  of  edify- 
ing the  characters  of  those  who  are  truly  renewed,  and 
of  ripening  them  for  the  glories  of  their  eternal  fellow- 
ship with  the  saints  in  the  immediate  presence  of  God. 

An  obvious  reflection,  suggested  by  what  has  been 
said,  is  this:  While  we  seek,  by  the  light  of  the  Bible, 
to  ascertain  and  assign  the  true  relation  of  the  various 
Christian  ordinances  to  their  great  and  common  end, 
the  salvation  of  men,  we  should  carefully  regard  them 
all  as  originating  in  the  same  Divine  authority;  and 
therefore,  on  one  common  ground,  entitled  to  our  obe- 
dient and  affectionate  regard.  Let  each,  then,  that  of 
preaching  and  that  of  the  sacraments,  be  duly  rever- 
enced, and  neither  be  put  down  for  the  sake  of  exalting 
the  other  into  solitary  eminence  and  single  considera- 
tion. Either  extreme  ends  in  danger.  Dark  supersti- 
tion, with  its  misty  imaginings  and  its  debasing  corrup- 
tions, lies  at  the  one,  and  at  the  other  that  cold  con- 
tempt, which  human  reason,  vanity,  and  pride  cast  on 
all  outward  though  Divine  symbols  of  our  most  holy 
faith.  It  is  at  the  mean  between  these  extremes  that  all 
things  are  united  in  their  due  proportion  and  harmony. 
It  is  at  this  mean  that  life  enters  into  all  ordinances, 
and  that  the  light  of  reason  and  the  superior  light  of 


EFFECTS  OF  PREACHING  AND  THE  SACRAMENTS.  77 

revelation  blend  in  showing  the  beauty  of  the  whole 
body  of  Christ's  institutions,  and  in  commending  the 
whole  to  the  approval  of  our  understandings,  to  the  love 
of  our  hearts,  and  to  the  reverence  of  our  faith. 

Nor  will  it  be  useless  to  suggest  once  more,  that 
every  thing  which  has  been  said  about  the  revealed 
Word  of  God,  as  that  body  of  eternal  truth  which  has 
been  given  to  us  ;  or  about  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel, 
as  the  great  work  of  the  ministry ;  or  about  the  sacra- 
ments of  Christ,  as  the  hallowed  symbols  of  His  reli- 
gion, has  had  reference  to  something  higher,  more 
vital  and  more  divine  than  any,  or  than  all,  of  these 
things — to  the  necessary  power  and  teachings  of  the 
Holy  Spirit — of  that  Divine  Agent,  which,  using  Truth 
as  His  single  instrument,  seeks  thereby  the  renewal, 
sanctification,  and  perfection  of  all  the  children  of  God ; 
and  which,  if  He  use  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  as  His 
right  hand  in  wielding  the  Sword  of  the  Word  for  the 
slaying  of  sin  and  error,  and  for  conquering  the  en- 
mity of  the  world,  does  also  use  the  sacraments  as  His 
left  hand  in  holding  over  the  Church  a  broad  and  con- 
secrated shield  of  protection,  and  in  putting  to  the  lips 
of  our  souls  a  full  and  refreshing  cup  of  consolation. 
It  is  at  our  worst  peril  that  we,  either  theoretically  or 
practically,  lose  sight  of  this  Sacred  Agent,  the  Spirit 
of  the  Father  and  the  Son,  amid  that  branching  yet 
united  system  of  channels,  through  which  he  makes 
His  ordinary  approaches  to  our  understandings  and  our 
hearts ;  seeking  thus  to  reach  our  invisible  souls  through 
our  bodily  senses,  and  through  those  audible  and  visible 
means,  of  preaching  and  the  sacraments,  in  which  those 
senses  are  met.  To  lose  sight  of  this  Spirit,  and  to 
think  only,  or  mainly,  of  the  Truth,  its  ministry,  or  its 
symbols,  is  as  unreasonable  as  it  would  be  to  forget 
that  the  body  carries  a  soul ;  if  not  as  dangerous  as  it 
G2 


78   EFFECTS  OF  PREACHING  AND  THE  SACRAMENTS. 

would  be  to  pay  to  a  graven  image  the  honor  due  unto 
God. 

Let  the  Divine  Spirit,  the  sacred  Illuminator  and 
Comforter  of  the  soul,  be  ever  held  in  clear  view  amid 
the  surrounding  institutes  of  the  Church,  and  always 
regarded  as  the  only  efficient  agent  in  our  renewal  and 
sanctification ;  acting  alone  through  all  sensible  chan- 
nels, and  using  Truth,  men,  and  ordinances  in  doing 
His  own  proper  work.  So  shall  we  be  in  least  danger 
either  of  misplacing,  or  of  disproportionately  valuing 
outward  things ;  and  most  certain  of  finding  the  whole 
body  of  the  Church  filled  with  Christ  and  with  His  life- 
giving  power  to  the  salvation  of  our  souls. 


PART  IL 

THE  NATURE  OF  THE  SACRAMENTS, 


BAPTISM. 


PART   11. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

John,  iii.,  5  :  "Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  except  a  man  be  bom  of 
water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  can  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God." 

I  HAVE  already  shown  that  the  great  end  which  God 
sseks  in  all  his  gracious  acts  toward  man,  is  the  renewal 
and  sanctification  of  the  soul ;  that  this  change  is  the  work 
of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  that  the  sole  instrument  which  He  uses 
in  this  work  is  Divine  Truth  ;  and  that  the  constituted  chan- 
nels through  which  He  ordinarily  brings  this  truth  into  ac- 
tion on  the  mind  are,  preaching  and  the  sacraments.  I 
have  also  attempted  to  assign  the  true  place  and  relative 
importance  of  preaching  and  the  sacraments  as  connected 
with  this  work  of  the  Spirit  in  the  use  of  truth. 

In  what  the  ordinance  of  preaching  consists  it  is  not  now 
necessary  to  inquire  ;  because,  in  understanding  it,  there  is 
no  great  difficulty  ;  and  because  the  discussions  lately  reviv- 
ed in  the  Church,  though  they  decidedly  depreciate  the  val- 
ue of  this  ordinance,  are  yet  more  largely  devoted  to  the 
nature  of  the  sacraments,  and  to  an  undue  exaltation  of  them, 
as,  in  their  language,  "  the  sources  of  Divine  grace."  Into 
this  nature,  therefore,  it  is  more  important  to  inquire  ;  and 
upon  this  inquiry  it  is  my  purpose  now  to  enter.  In  what 
do  the  sacraments  consist,  or  in  what  consist  their  true  de- 
sign and  value  1  This  is  the  inquiry  now  before  us,  and 
in  prosecuting  it,  we  need  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit  both 


82  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

for  writer  and  for  reader  ;  a  guidance  which  will  never  be 
withheld  from  the  true  prayer  of  faith. 

The  sacraments  which  Christ  has  instituted  are  Baptism 
and  the  Lord's  Supper.  Baptism,  like  the  Laver  in  the  an- 
cient Temple,  is  an  ordinance  which  stands  at  the  entrance 
of  the  Church,  the  symbol  of  our  needed  purification  from  sin. 
The  Lord's  Supper,  like  the  mercy-seat,  or  place  of  typ- 
ical atonement  in  the  Holy  of  Holies,  is  an  institution  which 
occupies  the  inner  recess,  the  symbol  of  Christ's  great  sacri- 
fice for  sin.  Baptism  is  administered  to  infants  in  sign  of 
the  purifying  which  they  need  ;  and  to  adults  in  sign  of  the 
cleansing  which  they  profess  to  have  received ;  and  to  both 
as  that  by  which  they  are  admitted  to  membership  in  the 
Church.  The  Lord's  Supper  is,  or  ought  to  be,  administer- 
ed to  those  only  who,  having  been  baptized,  give  evidence, 
in  their  riper  years,  that  they  indeed  are  what  their  bap- 
tism represents,  the  truly  penitent  and  believing  disciples  of 
the  Lord  Jesus,  his  renewed  and  obedient  followers. 

I  inquire,  first,  into  the  nature  of  baptism,  not,  of  course, 
into  its  material  and  sensible  part,  but  into  its  religious  na- 
ture and  design.  What  is  God's  act,  and  what  the  souVs 
experience  in  this  ordinance  ? 

1.  The  answer  to  this  question,  as  given  by  those  who 
have  revived  the  present  discussion,  whether  in  England 
or  in  this  country,  may  be  put  down  in  the  following  terms, 
selected  from  a  multitude  of  others,  equally  significant  and 
strong : 

"  Baptism  containeth  the  remission  of  sins,"  and  "  hath 
the  germ  of  spiritual  life."*  "  This  exposition"  (that  which 
makes  John,  i.,  12,  13,  refer  to  baptism  as  the  instrument 
of  the  birth  there  mentioned)  "  is  founded  on  the  very  notion 

*  Dr.  Pusey's  Sermon  before  the  University  of  Oxford,  N.  Y.  ed.,  p.  5. 
The  following  references  on  the  subject  of  baptism  are  all  to  the  New-York 
editions  of  Dr.  Pusey's  Sermon;  and  of  the  "  Tracts  for  the  Times,"  vol.  ii. 
part  i. 


THE    NATURE    OP    BAPTISM.  89 

riiat  the  partaking  of  the  incarnation,  and  the  Christian  rela- 
tion of  sonship  to  God,  is  imparted  through  baptism,  and  is 
not  imparled  without  it."*  Baptism  is  "  that  mystery  where- 
by we  are  made  partakers  of  the  incarnation,"  being  "  bap- 
tized into  one  body,"  the  body  of  our  Incarnate  Lord."! 
"  The  pardon  of  sins  is  the  direct  provision  in  baptism." 
"Baptism  gives  life."|  "Herein  are  we  justified,  or  both 
accounted  and  made  righteous  ;"  "  have  a  new  principle  of 
life  imparted  to  us  ;  since,  having  been  made  members  of 
Christ,  we  have  a  portion  of  His  life  or  of  Him,  who  is  our 
life."§  "  In  baptism  two  very  diflerent  causes  are  combin- 
ed: the  one,  God  himself;  the  other,  a  creature"  (water) 
"  which  He  hath  thought  fit  to  hallow  to  this  end."||  "  Faith 
and  repentance  are  the  conditions  on  which  God  gives  it. 
Water,  sanctified  by  our  Lord's  baptism,  is  the  womb  of  our 
new  birth. "TI  In  baptism,  "the  old  man  is  laid  aside,  the 
new  taken ;  he  entereth  a  sinner,  he  ariseth  justified."** 
"  Regeneration  is  the  '  being  born  again  of  water  and  the 
Spirit,'  or,  by  God's  Spirit  moving  again  on  the  face  of  the 
waters  ;  sanctifying  them  for  our  cleansing,  and  cleansing 
us  thereby. "ft  One  of  the  chief  writers  on  this  subject 
calls  baptism  "  this  miracle."]:;}:  The  baptized,  by  way  of 
expressing  the  reality  of  this  miracle,  used  to  be  called 
"  Christophori,  Theophori,"  Christbearers,  Godbearers.^^ 
And,  finally,  "  That  oneness  with  Him  in  His  Son,"  which 
is  alleged  to  be  wrought  through  the  sacraments,  is  called 
"  the  perfection  of  eternal  bliss,  where  will,  thought,  affec- 
tions, shall  be  one,  because  we  shall  be,  by  communication 
of  His  Divine  nature,  one."|[|j 

*  Tracts,  vol.  ii.,  p.  31.  t  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  44. 

+  Dr.  Pusey's  Sermon,  p.  6.  (}  Tracts,  vol.  ii.,  p.  24. 

I!  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  26.  %  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  43. 

**  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  47.  ft  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  47,  48. 

XX  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  68.  {)()  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  44. 

illl  Dr.  Pusey's  Sermons,  p.  8.    The  following  passages  also  contain  the 
substance  of  the  theory  : 


84  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM, 

I  would  not  force  these  expressions  into  a  meaning  no£ 
intended,  and  yet  it  is  desirable  to  throw  them  somewhat 
more  into  summary,  that  the  theory  of  baptism  which  they 
really  teach  may  be  seen  at  a  glance.  According  to  this 
theory,  then,  it  is  plain, 

That  in  baptism,  the  Holy  Spirit,  taking  residence  in  the 
water,  is  communicated  to  the  unconscious  infant ;  that 
thus  He  makes  the  baptized  a  partaker  of  the  incarnation, 
as  He  at  first  made  Christ  to  be  incarnate  in  our  nature ; 
that,  being  "  baptized  into  one  body,"  means  not,  as  usually 
understood,  initiated  into  the  Church  as  the  body  of  Christ, 
but  "  baptized  into  the  body  of  our  incarnate  Lord,"  as  ex- 
planatory of  the  phrase,  "  made  partakers  of  the  incarnation;" 

"  The  view,  then,  here  held  of  baptism  is,  that  we  be  ingrafted  into 
Christ,  and  thereby  receive  a  principle  of  life,  afterward  to  be  developed 
and  enlarged  by  fuller  influxes  of  His  grace ;  so  that  neither  is  baptism 
looked  upon  as  an  infusion  of  grace  distinct  from  the  incorporation  into 
Christ ;  nor  is  that  incorporation  conceived  of  as  separate  from  its  attend- 
ant blessings." — Tracts,  vol.  ii.,  p.  24,  25. 

"  No  change  of  heart  or  of  the  aifections,  no  repentance,  however  radical, 
no  faith,  no  life,  no  love  can  come  up  to  the  idea  of  this  '  birth  from  above ;' 
it  takes  them  all  in,  and  comprehends  them  all,  but  itself  is  more  than  all ; 
it  is  not  only  the  creation  of  a  new  heart,  new  affections,  new  desires,  and, 
as  it  were,  a  new  birth,  but  is  an  actual  birth  from  above,  or  from  God,  a  gift 
coming  down  from  God  and  given  to  faith,  through  baptism ;  yet  not  the 
work  of  faith,  but  the  operation  of '  water  and  the  Holy  Spirit ;'  the  Holy 
Spirit  giving  us  a  new  life  in  the  fountain  opened  by  Him,  and  we  being 
born  therein  of  Him,  even  as  our  blessed  and  incarnate  Lord  was,  accord- 
ing to  the  flesh,  born  of  Kim  in  the  Virgin's  womb."— Traces,  vol.  ii.,  p.  43. 

"  Our  new  birth"  is  "  itself  the  gift  of  God,"  "  illimitable  and  incompre- 
hensible as  that  great  mystery  from  which  it  flows,  the  incarnation  of  our 
Redeemer." — Ibid. 

"  Baptismal  regeneration,  as  connected  with  the  incarnation  of  our  blessed 
Lord,  gives  a  depth  to  our  Christian  existence,  an  actualness  to  our  union 
with  Christ,  a  reality  to  our  sonship  to  God,  an  interest  in  the  presence  of 
our  Lord's  glorified  body  at  God's  right  hand,  a  joyousness  amid  the  sub- 
duing of  the  flesh,  an  overwhelmingness  to  the  dignity  conferred  on  human 
nature,  a  solemnity  to  the  communion  of  saints,  who  are  the  fullness  of 
Him  who  fiUeth  all  in  all,  a  substantiality  to  the  indwelling  of  Christ,  that 
to  those  who  retain  this  truth,  the  school  which  abandoned  it  must  needs 
appear  to  have  sold  its  birthright." — Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  16. 


THE   NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  85 

that,  in  consequence  of  this  literal  ingrafting  into  Christ, 
baptism  gives  life,  the  germ,  the  principle  of  spiritual  life,  a 
portion  of  Him  who  is  our  life  ;  and  that,  being  thus  effica- 
cious, it  is  both  justifying  and  sanctifying,  both  the  account- 
ing and  the  making  of  us  righteous.  In  short,  by  "  this  mira- 
cle," "  this  communication  of  the  Divine  nature,"  we  lay- 
aside  the  old  man  and  take  the  new;  we  enter  the  water 
sinful  flesh,  and  rise  from  it  as  from  an  "  overwhelming  mys- 
tery," "  Christophori,  Theophori." 

Such  is  the  theory  :  the  Holy  Spirit  imparted  to  the  wa- 
ter ;  in  that  water  meeting  the  infant,  and  imparting  to  it 
Christ ;  and  then,  as  it  leaves  the  font,  presenting  it  justi- 
fied in  the  twofold  sense  of  being  both  accounted  and  made 
righteous,  the  subject  of  a  virtually  miraculous  communica- 
tion of  the  Divine  nature. 

This  is  baptismal  regeneration,  as  drawn  from  the  state- 
ments of  a  master  of  the  doctrine,  in  distinction,  he  says, 
from  the  system  which  "  the  moderns  have  formed  ;"  and 
between  which  and  "  the  exposition  of  the  ancient  Church," 
he  declares  "  the  difference  is  radical,  essential.''''*  This  is 
what  he  terms  the  "  overwhelming  mystery,"t  and  of  this 
it  is  that  he  says,  "  It  relates  to  no  insulated  point,  no  by 
or  incidental  question  which  may  be  laid  aside,  or  assumed 
without  affecting  the  rest.  It  lies,  as  is  confessed,  at  the 
root  of  the  whole  system,  as  some  say,  a  deadening  doctrine  ; 
as  the  old  Church  found  it,  full  of  life  ;J  but,  in  either  case, 
it  is  the  point  from  which  the  two  opposite  systems  that  di- 
vide the  Church  diverge. "§ 

I  believe  that  all  acquainted  with  the  subject  will  admit 
that  the  difference  between  the  two  systems  is  radical  and 
essential ;  and  many,  no  doubt,  will  feel  constrained  to  say 

*  Tracts,  vol.  ii.,  p.  47.  +  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  44. 

X  Did  "  the  old  Church"  grow  more  vital  the  longer  she  hugged  this 
doctrine  to  her  bosom?  Alas!  she  gathered  from  it  but  the  vitahty  of 
death  !  ^  Tracts,  vol.  ii.,  p.  38 

H 


86  THE    NATURE    OF   BAPTISM. 

that  the  theory  here  stated  is  not  only  unsustained  by  the 
sense  of  Scripture,  but  fraught  with  an  absurdity  as  great  as 
that  of  transubstantiation  itself. 

The  advocates  of  this  doctrine  warn  us  against  asking, 
"  How  can  these  things  be  ?"  They  call  all  such  "  Nico- 
demus  questions ;"  they  urge  us  to  believe  that  we  may  un- 
derstand ;  and  they  caution  us  against  turning  certain  Scrip- 
tures inio  figures,  lest  we  thereby  justify  heretics  in  turning 
all  other  vital  truths  into  the  emptiness  of  mere  tropes. 
Nevertheless,  as  their  theory  is  itself  an  attempt  to  interpret 
the  Scriptures,  and  enters  rather  boldly  into  their  "  Exposi- 
tion," we  must  even  attempt  the  same  thing.  We  must 
not  be  deterred  from  studying  the  Scriptures,  and  that,  more 
deeply  than  just  to  look  upon  them  with  the  eye  and  believe. 
We  must  seek  to  discover  their  real  meaning ;  and  our  ob- 
ject in  doing  so  should  be,  not  to  avoid  finding  figures  in 
the  Bible  ;  but,  where  we  do  find  them,  to  ascertain  the 
true  sense  which  they  carry. 

1.  The  view  of  baptism,  then,  which  I  have  presented, 
rests  for  its  corner-stone  on  this  idea,  that,  in  order  to  re- 
generation and  spiritual  life,  the  baptized  must  be  not  merely 
renewed  and  made  holy  by  repentance,  faith,  and  obedience, 
but  something  higher  and  more  miraculous  than  this — made 
"partakers  of  the  incarnation:"  that  the  ofiice  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  is,  to  work  in  the  baptized,  by  the  water  which  it 
fills,  a  participation  of  Christ's  whole  nature  ;  "  an  illimita- 
ble, incomprehensible  mystery,"  analogous  to  that  in  which 
He  made  Christ  incarnate  in  the  womb  of  the  Virgin,  when 
He  brought  the  Divine  nature  into  union  with  the  human, 
and  imparted  to  the  latter  the  life  of  the  former.  The  the- 
ory understands  the  phrases,  "  born  of  God,"  "  born  of  the 
Spirit,"  as,  in  the  strictest  sense,  literal ;  that,  as  infants  are 
born  not  only  hy,  but  o/" their  parents,  of  their  substance,  so 
are  Christians  born  q/'God,  ofthe  Spirit ;  not  only  by  His 
operation,  but  literally  of  Him.     Its  main  point,  however, 


THE    NATURE    OF   BAPTISM.  87 

seems  to  be,  that  the  baptized  participate  in  the  incarnation ; 
that  they  are,  "  not  by  any  figure,  or  likeness,  but  actually, 
sons  of  God,  because  He,  in  Whom  and  of  Whom  they  are 
made,  is,  not  by  any  figure  or  likeness,  but  actually,  the 
Son  of  God  ;"  that  they  are  "  parts  of  the  Second  Adam,  as 
they  were  by  nature  of  the  first."* 

But,  though  this  is  the  corner-stone  of  the  system,  yet  the 
system  itself,  with  its  corner-stone,  rests  on  something  still 
lower  down.  The  doctrine  seeks  its  support  in  something 
still  farther  back  ;  and  this  something  is  a  correlative  notion 
of  what  at  first  constituted  original  righteousness,  and  of 
what  still  constitutes  original  sin.  In  order  that  the  theory 
of  Baptismal  Regeneration,  as  just  stated,  may  not  look  too 
like  a  new  conceit,  related  to  nothing  in  earlier  Divine  dis- 
closures, its  advocates  go  back  to  the  creation  and  fall  of 
man,  and  impose  on  those  gi"eat  facts  a  character  corre- 
spondent with  their  own  view  of  the  means  of  man's  recov- 
ery from  sin,  and  of  his  restoration  to  his  primeval  privi- 
lege.    Their  view  of  these  points  is  briefly  this. 

2.  Original  righteousness  consisted,  not  in  "  actual  in- 
herent holiness''''  (the  image  of  God),  but  in  a  "  supernatural 
clothing,''^  "  over  and  above  nature  j"t  and  this,  "  agreeably 
with  the  view  of  justification  already  taken,  is  nothing  less 
than  the  inward  presence  either  of  the  Divine  Word,  or  of 
the  Holy  Ghost. "|     Consequently,  original  sin  consists,  not 

*  Tracts,  vol.  ii.,  p.  44. 

t  "  Christ  clothes  us  with  something  over  and  above  nature,  which  Adam 
forfeited." — Newman  on  Justification,  London,  1838,  p.  180. 

Dr.  Pusey  shadows  forth  the  same  idea  in  his  Treatise  on  Baptism : 
"  We  are  first  clothed  upon  by  Him,  and  when  we  have  been  thus  clothed, 
the  blessing  is  pronounced  upon  '  him  that  watcheth  and  keepeth  his  gar- 
ments, lest  he  walk  naked.'  Our  shame,  which  we  contracted  in  Adam's 
fall,  is  first  hidden,  and  our  garment  of  immortality  and  righteousness  more 
than  restored,  by  being  made  members  of  Christ ;  and  then  we  are  bidden, 
'  Buy  of  me  white  raiment  that  thou  mayest  be  clothed,  and  that  the  shame 
of  thy  nakedness  do  not  appear.'" — [Tract  67,  p.  91.] 

t  Newman  on  Justification,  p.  180. 

To  show  how  distinct  this  alleged  original,  or  justifying  righteousness, 


88  THE   NATURE    OF  BAPTISM. 

in  the  loss  of  "  actual  inherent  holiness,"  or  the  image  of 
God,  but  in  the  deprivation  or  forfeiture  of  this  supernatural 
clothing,  this  extra  endowment  of  Divinity.  In  other  words, 
God  at  first  created,  not  a  mere  perfect  man — a  man  in 
the  Divine  image,  because  of  a  moral  and  rational  nature, 
and  perfect  in  his  kind ;  but  a  perfect  man  with  a  Divino 
addition  to  his  perfection  ;  a  literal  Theophorus — a  created 
being  with  an  endowment  uncreated.  And  then,  by  the 
fall,  man  not  only  lost  his  "  actual  inherent  holiness,"  but 
also  forfeited  his  supernatural  i7ivestment ;  in  which  for- 
feiture— not  in  the  loss  of  holiness — consists  original  sin. 

lost  at  the  fall  and  regained  under  the  Gospel,  is  from  any  thing  in  man  or 
of  man,  as  the  result  of  God's  agency,  I  give  a  few  other  extracts. 

"  Justifying  righteousness  consists  in  the  coming  and  presence  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  within  us" — p.  153. 

"It  is  not  any  mere  quality  of  mind,  whether  faith  or  holiness" — p. 
154,  155. 

"  Justification"  (and,  of  course,  the  righteousness  in  which  it  consists) 
"is  not  a  mere  change  of  slate  in  us,  or  a  liberty,  privilege,  or  (as  it  may 
be  called)  citizenship ;  but  a  something  lodged  within  us" — p.  157. 

"  The  righteousness,  on  which  we  are  called  righteous,  though  within  us, 
as  it  must  be,  if  it  is  to  separate  us  from  the  world,  yet  is  not  of  us,  nor  in  ns, 
nor  any  quality  or  act  of  our  minds,  not  faith,  not  renovation,  not  obedience, 
not  any  thing  cognizable  by  man,  but  a  certain  Divine  gift,  in  which  all 
these  qualitications  are  included" — p.  159. 

"  The  Divine  Presence  vouchsafed  to  us,  besides  being  that  of  the  Holy 
Trinity,  is  specially  said  to  be  the  presence  of  Christ ;  vihich  would  seem 
to  imply  that  '  The  Word  made  flesh'  is,  in  some  mysterious  manner,  be- 
stowed upon  us" — p.  164.  This  is  said  in  explanation  of  "  the  Gift  of 
Righteousness." 

"  Christ  is  our  Righteousness,  by  dwelling  in  us  by  the  Spirit.  He  justi- 
fies us  by  entering  into  us  ;  He  continues  to  justify  us  by  remaining  in  us. 
This  is  really  and  truly  our  justification,  not  faith,  not  holiness,  not  a  mere 
imputation ;  but,  through  God's  mercy,  the  very  presence  of  Christ" — 
p.  167. 

"  Christians  are  justified  by  the  communication  of  an  inward,  most  sa- 
cred, and  most  mysterious  gift.  From  the  very  time  of  baptism  they  are 
temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost." — Ibid. 

The  difference  between  Old  and  New  Testament  saints  in  the  matter  of 
justification  is  said  to  be  this :  that  the  former  were  not,  while  the  latter 
were,  "  partakers  in  the  body  and  blood  of  the  Incarnate  Son" — p.  225.  In 
short,  the  lectures  abound  in  traces  of  the  above  train  of  thought. 


THE    NATURE    OP   BAPTISM.  8& 

Now  from  this  im-Bible-like  notion  (to  fashion  a  word 
for  the  place),  from  this  apparent  forethought,  which  is  yet 
an  afterthought,  from  this  seeming  parent,  which  is  yet  an 
offspring,  the  theory  of  baptismal  regeneration  now  in  view, 
appears  naturally  to  follow.  The  added  supernatural  invest- 
ment which,  by  the  theory,  was  forfeited  at  the  fall,  is,  by 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  baptism,  graciously  re- 
stored ;  and  thus  the  baptized  becomes,  as  at  first,  more 
than  man,  "  a  partaker  in  the  incarnation,  a  literal  Theo- 
phorus,"  "  not  by  any  figure,  or  likeness,  but  actually,  a  Son 
of  God  ;"  "  a  part  of  the  Second  Adam." 

(1.)  From  this,  it  is  evident  that,  in  pursuing  the  present 
argument,  the  first  step  is,  to  show  the  baselessness  of  the 
foregoing  theory  of  original  righteousness  and  original  sin. 
To  do  this  fully  would  require  a  volume ;  but  for  the  pres- 
ent much  less  must  suffice. 

What  foundation,  then,  has  that  theory  ?  Scripturally, 
none  at  all.  It  is  a  pure  figment.  The  Bible  contains  an 
account  of  the  creation  and  endowment  of  no  such  being  as 
the  theory  supposes.  "  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image, 
after  our  likeness."  "  So  God  created  man  in  his  own 
image." — Gen.,  i.,  26,  27.  "  And  the  Lord  God  formed 
man  of  the  dust  of  the  ground,  and  breathed  into  his  nostrils 
the  breath  of  life  ;  and  man  became  a  living  soul." — Gen., 
ii.,  7.  This  is  the  whole  of  the  simply  sublime  account 
which  the  Bible  gives  of  the  origin  of  our  race  ;  an  event, 
in  view  of  which  God  pronounced  His  whole  created  Work, 
not  only  "  good"  as  He  saw  it  before,  but  "  very  good"  now 
that  one  in  His  own  image  stood  up  to  understand,  admire, 
and  enjoy  the  magnificent  whole. 

But  where,  in  this  account,  do  we  find  the  original  of  the 
idea,  that  man  was  not  only  created  in  the  image  of  God, 
but  also  gifted  with  an  additional  supernatural  investment, 
"  the  inward  presence  of  the  Divine  Word,  or  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  ?"  We  find,  indeed,  that  as  to  his  rational  and  mor- 
H  2 


90  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

al  part,  he  was  not  formed,  but  "  created  ;"  brought  into  be- 
ing by  that  mysterious  energy  which  speaks  existence  out 
of  non-existence ;  and  that,  as  to  his  material  and  corrupti- 
ble part,  he  was — not  created — but  '^^  formed,"  fashioned  out 
of  already  existing  materials,  "  the  dust  of  the  ground."* 
We  find,  also,  that  after  his  lifeless  body  had  been  thus 
fashioned,  God  "  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of 
life  ;"  and  that  thus  the  created  and  the  formed  taking 
union,  "  man  became  a  living  soul,"  a  simply  perfect  man, 
new  from  his  Maker's  hand,  and  bright  in  his  Maker's  im- 
age. But  in  all  this  we  find  no  place  for  an  additional 
supernatural  investment.  The  only  point  at  which  this 
can  be  supposed  to  have  been  given,  is  that  closing  act,  in 
which  God  breathed  into  the  yet  unbreathing  nostrils  the 
literal  and  common  breath  of  life.  To  suppose,  however, 
that  at  the  same  moment,  and  in  the  same  act.  He  inspired 
the  supernatural  grace,  "  the  inward  presence  of  the  Divine 
Word,  or  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  would  be  to  indulge  a  gratui- 
tous and  baseless  assumption.  Such  a  notion,  however  it 
might  live  in  the  imagining  of  the  theorist,  liveth  not  in  the 
sober  Word  of  God.  So  far  as  Scriptural  testimony  goes, 
this  theory  of  original  righteousness  and,  of  course,  of  original 
sin,  is,  I  repeat,  without  foundation.  It  is  a  pure  figment. 
It  can  not  but  be  seen  that,  if  the  notion  of  baptismal  regen- 
eration, as  it  has  been  stated,  had  never  been  entertained, 
this  figment  would  never  have  been  conceived.  A  sane, 
sober  student  of  the  ancient  Bible,  mindless  of  modern  theo- 
ries, would  never  have  dreamed  of  such  a  thing. 

(2.)  Besides,  the  whole  idea,  when  imbodied  into  consist- 
ency, savors  not  only  of  the  improbable,  but  also  of  the  im- 
possible. It  supposes  that  God  created  a  perfect  man,  who 
was  yet  more  than  man.     To  illustrate  this,  it  must  be  re- 

*  The  difference  here  indicated  between  "  created"  and  "formed"  is,  by 
some,  supposed  to  be  implied  in  the  diiferent  meanings  of  the  two  He- 
brew words,  K13i  and  TW^p- 


THE    NATURE    OF   BAPTISM.  91 

membered  that,  according  to  the  theory  of  baptismal  regen- 
eration under  this  system,  the  baptized  become  "  partakers 
of  the  incarnation,"  "parts  of  the  Second  Adam  ;"  existing 
in  the  same  intimate  and  mysterious  union  with  the  nature 
of  Christ,  which  was  effected  between  the  human  and  the 
Divine,  when  He  was  made  incarnate  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
in  the  womb  of  the  Virgin  ;  and  that  the  original  counter- 
part to  this  restored  mystery  in  man  is  found  in  that  super- 
natural investment,  which  was  added  to  his  nature  at  crea- 
tion. To  make  the  latter  idea  consistent,  therefore,  this 
supernatural  investment,  or  original  righteousness,  must  be, 
not  the  mere  presence  of  God  among  his  children,  but  that 
same  intimate  and  mysterious  union  of  the  Divine  Word 
with  their  natures  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which 
is  alleged  to  be  restoringly  effected  in  baptism.  And  this 
seems  to  be  the  true  idea  as  entertained  by  the  advocates  of 
the  system.  I  repeat,  then,  this  supposes  that  God  created 
a  perfect  man,  who  was  yet  more  than  man  ;  which  is  re- 
ally the  figment  of  an  impossibility.  God  may  be  in  man 
by  an  image,  a  likeness  of  Himself ;  but  not  by  an  actual 
irapartation  of  Himself,  of  His  substance.  His  moral  and 
rational  attributes  are  communicable,  in  the  sense  of  being 
imitable  ;  but  his  nature  itself  is  zVi-communicable.  In  this 
sense,  He  neither  "  will"  nor  can,  "  give  His  glory  to 
another."  The  heavens,  it  is  said,  may  be  imaged  in  a 
dew-drop  :  certainly  ;  but  they  can  not  bs  in  a  dew-drop, 
with  their  very  substance.  So  God  may  be  imaged  in  the 
soul ;  He  may  have  His  likeness  there :  but  He  can  not  be 
in  the  soul  by  a  literal  impartation  and  commingling  of 
Himself  with  its  substance.  I  do  not  deny  the  possibility 
of  a  miraculous  union  of  the  human  nature  with  the  Divine. 
This  union  has  been  once  effected  in  the  mysterious  person 
of  our  glorious  "  Immanuel."  But  I  do  deny  its  possi- 
bility consistently  with  its  subject's  continuing  a  mere  man. 
Such  a  union  can  not  be  effected  without  rendering  every 


92  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

Christian  literally  a  true  Christ ;  and  thus  rendering  the 
work  of  atonement  practically  needless :  a  consequence 
which,  in  truth,  would  seem  to  follow  from  this  whole 
system.  But  no  such  consequence  flows  from  the  true 
statement  of  this  subject.  Originally,  man  was  created, 
simply  and  perfectly,  man  ;  in  the  likeness  of  God,  in  so  far 
as  he  was  of  a  moral  and  rational  nature,  and  perfectly  holy. 
He  was  not  a  being  compounded  of  this  perfect  man,  and 
an  added  supernatural  investment  with  the  Divine  nature. 
And  by  the  fall,  he  lost,  not  what  had  never  been  given,  but 
what  he  had  received — his  holiness,  his  likeness  to  God  ; 
his  original  righteousness,  in  the  true  Scriptural  sense  of 
the  term. 

(3.)  After  this  view,  it  may  seem  needless  to  add,  that 
such  a  union  as  is  here  denied,  would  evidently  have  been 
a  strange  departure  from  the  whole  analogy  of  God's  cre- 
ating work.  When  He  created  the  inferior  orders  of  being, 
He  formed  them,  as  we  are  told,  each  "  after  his  kind,"  and 
perfect  in  his  kind  ;  dependent  on  many  other  things,  and 
yet  perfectly  distinct  from  all  other  things.  So,  when  He 
created  angels,  or  superior  orders,  those  "  sons  of  God," 
those  "  morning  stars"  that  "  sang  together  and  shouted  for 
joy"  when  the  "  corner  stone"  of  the  world  was  laid  ;  we 
have  not  the  slightest  intimation  that  He  created  them 
otherwise  than  "  after  their  kind,"  and  perfect  in  their 
kind  ;  mere  angels  ;  dependent  on  God,  indeed,  and  yet  not 
God,  nor  any  fart  of  Him,  but  perfectly  distinct  beings.  It 
is  unreasonable,  therefore,  to  suppose  that  man  was  an 
anomaly,  an  exception  to  this  evidently  general,  and  other- 
wise universal  rule  of  creation.  He  also  was  created 
"  after  his  kind,"  and  perfect  in  his  kind  ;  mere  man  ;  de- 
pendent on  God,  and  yet  not  God,  nor  any  part  of  God,  but 
a  perfectly  distinct  being  ;  conformed  in  every  respect  to  all 
our  conceptions  of  distinct  genus  and  species. 

(4.)  Moreover,  if  it  were  possible  and  rational  to  origi- 


THE    NATURE    OF   BAPTISM.  93 

nate  a  being  such  as  the  theory  makes  the  first  man,  how 
mightily  would  this  embarrass  the  already  profoundly  diffi- 
cult question  of  the  origin  of  evil  in  our  world  !  For  what 
purpose  could  his  added  supernatural  investment,  if  possi- 
ble, have  been  given  to  man,  when  withheld  from  angels, 
except  to  keep  man  from  such  a  fall  as  that  into  which  an- 
gels had  plunged  ?  And  where  was  the  inward  Deity  when 
the  subtle  tempter  glozed  in  the  ear  of  the  primal  mother 
that  artful  falsehood,  "  Eat,  and  ye  shall  not  die  ;  but  be  as 
gods,  knowing  good  and  evil  ?"  Supposing  man  so  singu- 
larly endowed,  of  what  use  was  then  the  awful  gift  ?  On 
the  Scriptural  ground  that  man  was  simply  man,  made  strong 
to  stand,  yet  left  free  to  fall,  we  can  conceive  of  the  mode, 
though  we  may  not  of  the  reason,  of  the  origin  of  evil  in  our 
world.  But  on  the  ground  of  this  theory,  the  question  loses 
us  in  utter  darkness  ;  yea,  amid  the  awfulness  of  a  reluct- 
ant, yet  unavoidable  arraignment  of  God !  The  difficulties 
of  unquestionable  Scripture  on  this  point  are  sufficiently 
great.  But  those  of  this  theory  are  infinitely  greater  ;  and 
we  come  with  increased  satisfaction  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  Bible  is  an  utter  stranger  to  the  idea  of  original  right- 
eousness and  original  sin,  which  has  now  been  examined. 

(5.)  This  theory  derives  as  little  support  from  the  Script- 
ural account  of  the  fall  as  it  does  from  that  of  the  creation 
of  man. 

The  account  of  the  creation  in  the  second  chapter  of  Gen- 
esis closes  with  the  remark,  that "  they  were  both  naked,  and 
not  ashamed."  That  of  the  fall  in  the  third  chapter  con- 
cludes with  this  :  "  The  eyes  of  both  of  them  were  opened, 
and  they  knew  that  they  were  naked.  And  they  sewed 
fig-leaves  together,  and  made  themselves  aprons." — Gen  , 
ii.,  25 ;  iii.,  7.  And  after  the  sad  catastrophe,  when  they 
had  "  hid  themselves  among  the  trees  of  the  garden,"  and 
when  Adam  "  heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord,"  calling,  •'  Where 
art  thou  ?"  he  replied,  "  I  heard  thy  voice  in  the  garden,  and 


94  THE    NATURE    OP   BAPTISM. 

I  was  afraid,  because  I  was  naked." — Gen.,  iii.,  8-10. 
Now  it  is  undeniable  that  the  nakedness  here  mentioned  in 
the  second  chapter,  and  that  discovered  in  the  third,  are 
identical.  \i  ihe  former  were  bodily,  so  was  the  latter ;  and 
if  the  latter  were  spiritual,  so  was  the  former.  And  yet, 
with  plain  reference  to  these  primeval  scenes,  and  by  way 
of  supporting  the  theory  of  original  righteousness  and  orig- 
inal sin,  one  of  its  advocates,  in  part  conjecturally,  and  in 
part  positively,  argues  thus :  "  Whereas  we  have  gained, 
under  the  Gospel,  what  we  lost  in  Adam,  and  justification 
is  a  reversing  of  our  forfeiture,  and  a  robe  of  righteousness 
is  what  Christ  gives,  perchance  a  robe  is  what  Adam  lost." 
"  Of  this  he  was  stripped,  by  sinning,  as  of  a  covering, 
and  shrank  from  the  sight  of  himself."*     This,  it  must  be 

*  Newman  on  Justification,  p.  179.  The  whole  sentence  stands  thus  : 
"  Whereas  we  have  gained  under  the  Gospel  what  we  lost  in  Adam,  and 
justification  is  a  reversing  of  our  forfeiture,  and  a  robe  of  righteousness  is 
what  Christ  gives,  perchance  a  robe  is  what  Adam  lost.  If  so,  what  is  told 
us  of  what  he  lost  will  explain  what  it  is  we  gain.  Now  the  peculiar  gift 
which  Adam  lost  is  told  us  in  the  Book  of  Genesis ;  and  it  certainly  seems 
to  have  been  a  supernatural  clothing.  He  was  stripped  of  it  by  sinning,  as 
of  a  covering,  and  shrank  from  the  sight  of  himself." 

It  may  be  well  to  add  the  following  extracts  from  the  same  work,  as  far- 
ther illustrations  of  the  view  here  given  of  original  righteousness  and  origi- 
nal sin  : 

"  The  Catholic  fathers,  as  Bishop  Bull  has  collected  their  testimony, 
teach  that  the  principle  of  sanctity  in  Adam,  to  which  was  attached  the 
gift  of  immortality,  was  something  distinct  from  and  above  his  human  nature. 
That  nature,  indeed,  did  look  toward  such  a  perfection,  but  could  not  in 
itself  reach  it.  Without  this  heavenly  possession,  man  was  not  able  to 
keep  the  law  according  to  the  covenant  of  life,  but  ivith  it  he  could  serve 
God  acceptably,  and  gain  the  reward  set  before  him" — p.  182. 

"  Whatever  else  Adam  had  by  creation,  this  seems  to  have  been  one 
main  gift,  or,  rather,  that  in  which  all  others  were  included,  the  presence 
of  God,  the  Holy  Ghost  in  him,"  &c.  "  This  was  his  clothing ;  this  he  lost 
by  disobedience  ;  this  Christ  has  regained  for  us" — p.  183. 

"  It  is  an  angelic  glory,  which  good  spirits  honor,  which  devils  tremble 
at,  and  which  we  are  bound  reverently  to  cherish,  with  a  careful  abstinence 
from  sin,  and  with  the  sacrifice  of  good  works.  Well,  then,  may  prophets 
and  apostles  exult  in  it  as  the  great  gift  of  Divine  Mercy,  as  the  rich  gar- 


THE    NATURE   OP    BAPTISM.  96 

remembered,  is  spoken,  not  of  our  loss  of  holiness,  or  the 
image  of  God,  and  of  our  recovery  of  that  holiness,  or  like- 
ness to  Him  ;  but  of  an  alleged  forfeiture  and  restitution  of 
something  "  over  and  above  nature,'"  of  a  supernatural  invest- 
ment ;  in  the  possession  of  which  consisted  original  right- 
eousness, and  in  the  forfeiture  of  which  stood  original  sin, 
in  the  sense  contended  for  by  the  theory.  Let  us  see  what 
this  will  make  of  the  account  of  the  fall. 

Upon  his  disobedience,  according  to  the  theory,  Adam 
found  himself"  stripped,  as  of  a  covering,"  not  of  "  actual  in- 
herent holiness,"  but  of  the  "  something  over  and  above  na- 
ture," wherewith  God  had  clothed  his  soul ;  and  being  thus 
stripped,  he  discovered  his  nakedness,  "  and  shrank  from  the 
sight  of  himself."  The  nakedness  which  he  discovered,  and 
which  made  him  "  afraid,"  was,  it  seems,  not  bodily,  hut  sniril- 
ual ;  it  was  his  fallen  humanity  left  without  the  robe  of  divnily, 
as  that  which  had  constituted  his  original  righteousness. 
But,  as  was  this  discovered  nakedness  after  the  fall,  such  also 
was  the  wndiscovered  nakedness  before  the  fall.  The  cer- 
tainty of  this  is  indisputable.  Before  the  fall,  "  they  were  na- 
ked, and  not  ashamed  ;"  after  it,  "  they  knew  they  were  naked, 
and  were  afraid."  Of  the  identity  of  the  nakedness  in  these 
two  scenes,  common  sense  knows  no  doubt.  Thus,  then, 
we  have  it.  Man  was  equally,  and  in  the  same  sense, 
naked  both  before  and  after  the  fall.  If  this  nakedness 
were  spiritual,  consisting  in  the  absence  of  the  alleged  Di- 
vine robe,  original  righteousness,  then  have  we  mzn,  forfeit- 
ing, at  the  fall,  a  righteousness  which  he  never  posssessed, 
"  stripfed"  of  a  robe  in  which  God  had  never  clothed  him. 
But  if  his  nakedness  were  bodily,  consisting  in  the  absence 


ment  of  salvation,  and  the  enjeweled  robe  of  righteousness,  &c.,  as  '  Christ 
in  us,'  and  'upon  us,'  and  around  us,  as  if  it  were  a  light  streaming  from 
our  hearts,  pervading  the  whole  man,  inwrapping  and  hiding  the  lineaments 
and  members  of  our  fallen  nature,  circling  round  US,  and  returning  inward  to 
the  centre  from  which  it  issues" — p.  184. 


96  THE    NATURE   OP   BAPTISM. 

of  literal  clothing  (and  who  doubts  that  this  is  the  true 
sense  ?),  then  again  is  the  theory  convicted  of  a  gratuitous 
and  baseless  assumption,  while  engaged  in  the  solemn  work 
of  attempting  to  interpret  the  oracles  of  God ;  turning  the 
actually  literal  into  the  figurative,  whenever  it  suits  its  pur- 
pose, as  easily  as,  for  the  same  reason,  it  can  turn  the  truly 
figurative  into  the  literal.  The  nakedness  for  which  holy 
innocence  cared  not,  but  which  made  conscious  guilt  afraid, 
and  seek  an  artificial  covering,  is  here,  by  a  mere  fiction  in 
theology  converted  into  the  stripping  of  Adam's  inner  man 
of  its  Divine  robe,  its  supernatural  investment !  The  mere 
statement  of  the  absurdity  is  its  best  refutation. 

(6.)  After  what  has  thus  been  said,  we  shall  expect  to  find 
ilie  Articles  of  our  Church  as  much  a  stranger  to  this  theory 
as  are  the  Scriptures  themselves.  And  such  is  the  case. 
Turn  to  the  standards  and  read. 

"  Original  sin  standeth,  not  in  the  following  of  Adam  (as 
the  Pelagians  do  vainly  talk),  but  it  is  the  fault  and  corrup- 
tion of  the  nature  of  every  man,  that  naturally  is  engender- 
ed of  the  offspring  of  Adam  ;  whereby  man  is  very  far  gone 
from  original  righteousness,  and  is,  of  his  own  nature,  incli- 
ned to  evil ;  so  that  the  flesh  lusteth  always  contrary  to  the 
Spirit."  "  And  this  infection  of  nature  doth  remain  ;  yea, 
in  them  that  are  regenerated."* 

This  article  is,  indeed,  directed  against  the  Pelagians  by 
name,  but  it  is  not,  therefore,  the  less  fatal  to  the  theory 
which  I  am  examining.  Original  righteousness  and  origi- 
nal sin,  as  mentioned  in  this  article,  are  moral  opposites. 
Its  actual  definition  of  the  one  is,  therefore,  a  virtual  defini- 
tion of  the  other.  How,  then,  does  the  article  define  original 
sin,  the  state  in  which  man  is  very  far  gone  from  its  opposite, 
original  righteousness  ?  Does  it  say  that  this  sin  stands  in 
the  loss  of  a  supernatural  investment,  of  a  mysterious  Divine 
gift  infused  into  man  ?  No  ;  but  that  it  consists  in  the  loss 
♦  See  Art.  ix. 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  97 

of  man's  own  holiness ;  it  "  standeth  in  the  fauh  and  cor- 
ruption of  our  nature"  itself;  it  is  "  an  infection  of  nature 
which  remains  even  in  the  regenerate."  Such  being  its 
definition  of  original  sin,  the  direct  ojiposite  is  its  definition 
of  original  righteousness.  For  the  two  states — either  of 
them  being  defined — mutually  define  each  other.  As,  there- 
fore, "  original  sin  standeth  in  the  fault  and  corruption,  or 
infection  of  our  nature'^  itself,  "  inclining  us  to  evil,"  so  orig- 
inal righteousness  stood  in  the  faultlessness  and  purity,  or 
soundness  of  our  nature  itself,  inclining  the  first  man  to 
good ;  and  this  original  righteousness  is  but  another  name 
for  that  perfect  holiness,  that  image  and  likeness  of  God, 
in  which  man  was  at  first  created.  Thus,  the  theory  and 
the  article  are  at  war  !  Let  us  draw  distinctly  into  view 
the  points  in  the  conflict. 

The  theory  says,  Original  Righteousness  stood,  not  in 
*'  actual,  inherent  holiness,'"  or  the  likeness  of  God ;  but  in  an 
added  supernatural  investment.  The  article  says,  It  stood, 
not  in  this  added  supernatural  investment,  lut  in  "  actual, 
inherent  holiness,"  or  the  likeness  of  God.  The  theory 
proclaims.  Original  sin  standeth,  not  in  "  the  fault  and  cor- 
ruption of  our  nature,"  but  in  the  forfeiture  of  an  original 
Divine  gift  superadded  to  nature.  The  article  proclaims.  It 
standeth,  not  in  the  forfeiture  of  this  additional  gift,  but  in 
the  very  fault  and  corruption  of  our  nature  itself.  So  open- 
ly and  fatally  do  the  two  clash  ! 

This,  however,  is  not  the  whole  of  the  conflict.  If,  ac- 
cording to  the  theory,  original  sin  stand  in  the  alleged  for- 
feiture, then,  when  the  forfeit  is  recovered  in  Baptism,  orig- 
inal sin  no  longer  remains.  By  the  theory,  original  sin 
and  the  gift  in  Baptism  are  opposites.  Where  the  one  is 
the  other  is  not.  But  the  article  teaches  that  original  sin 
does  remain,  "  even  in  them  that  are  regenerated."  It  re- 
mains identical  with  that  lingernig  "  infection  of  nature," 
the  deep  power  of  which  renders  our  sanctification  progres- 
I 


9B  THE    NATURE    G¥   BAPTISBir. 

&ive  ;  the  often  slov/,  and  the  too  often  interrupted  moYemeni 
of  our  lives.  That  there  is  such  a  thing  as  this  progressi/e 
sanctitication,  the  advocates  of  the  theory  admit,  though 
they  miscall  it  "  progressive  justification^  But  the  theory 
itself  deities  what  the  article  affirms^  that  original  sin  itself 
remains  after  baptism.  In  truth,  the  theory  is  at  irrecon- 
cilable war  both  with  the  standards  of  the  Church,  and  with 
the  Bible,  on  which  those  standards  are  planted.  There  is 
no  such  original  righteousness,  nor  any  such  original  sin, 
as  is  here  feigned.  While  the  theory  admits  what  we  un- 
derstand by  the  image  af  God,  or  his  likeness  in  man  (an 
admission,  however,  which  is  rather  tacit  than  much  talked 
of),  it  adds  to  the  Bible  doctrine  its  own  peculiarities,  which 
are  yet  not  mere  additions,  but  in  truth  irreconcilable  differ- 
ences ;  nay,  virtual  contradictions  ! 

I  have  dwelt  thus  long  on  this  notion  of  original  right- 
eousness and  original  sin,  because  it  is  really  the  imagi- 
nary foundation,  on  which  the  theory  of  baptismal  regener- 
ation now  in  view  seeks  to  rest  itself;  and  because,  to 
demonstrate  that  this  foundation  is  imaginary,  is  at  the  same 
time  to  demonstrate  that  the  theory,  which  seeks  to  rest  on 
it,  is  unscriptural.  This  theory  has  no  o^Aer  foundation.  It 
is  bound  to  a  baseless  idea  of  original  righteousness  and 
original  sin  ;  and,  with  the  unsettling  of  this  idea,  it  Jails. 
As  there  was  no  such  supernatural  gift  as  that  alleged  to 
have  been  forfeited  at  the  fall,  so  there  is  no  such  supernat- 
ural grace  to  be  restored  in  baptism.  This  holds  true,  how- 
ever you  may  fashion,  and  vary,  and  modify  the  notion  of 
that  supernatural  gift,  so  long  as  you  keep  it  distinct  aiKj 
difi'erent  from  that  original  holiness,  the  image  of  God,  in 
which  man  was  created.  And  the  moment  you  bring  it 
down  so  as  to  make  it  no  longer  a  Divine  thing  added  to  the 
mere  perfect  man,  but  identical  with  his  perfection,  his  orig- 
inal holiness,  the  likeness  of  God  in  him,  that  moment  you 
come  upon  a  different  foundation,  and  the  whole  system  of 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  99 

Biblical  Theology  receives  a  different  shaping.  The  moment 
you  cease  modifying  the  notion  which  I  have  examined,  and 
adopt  the  idea  that  original  righteousness  was  indeed 
nothing  else  than  "  actual  inherent  holiness,"  the  moral  like- 
ness of  God  in  man,  that  moment  you  step  from  a  founda- 
tion of  fiction  to  a  foundation  of  fact ;  you  leave  the  imagi- 
nary for  the  real ;  you  leave  that  fountain-Error,  whose  dark 
stream  flows  on  in  a  religion  of  miracle  in  sacraments,  and 
of  superstition  in  ceremonies  ;  and  come  to  the  spring-head 
of  Truth,  whose  living  waters  descend  to  us  in  a  religion  of 
Bible  doctrine  in  the  understanding,  and  of  Bible  holiness  in 
the  heart. 

The  simple,  yet  grand  truth  on  this  point  is.  that  man  was 
created  "  in  the  image  of  God,"  without  any  additional  su- 
pernatural investment ;  "  in  the  likeness  of  God,"  without  any 
added  impartation  of  God.  By  creation  he  was  a  truly  and 
a  merely  perfect  man.  By  the  fall,  his  nature  became  changed 
from  perfect  to  imperfect,  from  holy  to  sinful,  from  the  likeness 
of  God  to  a  loss  of  that  likeness.  And  now,  what  Christ 
seeks,  in  coming  into  the  world,  surrounded  with  the  lights 
of  revelation  and  the  teachings  of  the  Spirit,  is  to  restore 
man  to  the  state  from  which  he  is  fallen  ;  to  change  his  na- 
ture, with  a  reverse  movement,  from  imperfect  to  perfect, 
from  sinful  to  holy,  from  the  loss  to  the  repossession  of 
likeness  to  God.  We  do  not  need  a  mysterious  reinvesti- 
ture  with  the  Divine  nature,  but  a  Scriptural  restoration  to 
the  perfection  of  our  own  nature.  We  need,  not  a  virtually 
miraculous  addition,  but  a  spiritual,  though  intelligible 
change  ;  a  change  inscrutable  in  its  mode,  but  most  intelli- 
gible in  its  effects  ;  wrought  by  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the  se- 
crecy of  His  goings,  yet  distinctly  cognizable  by  us  in  the 
results  of  His  workings  :  still,  a  mere  change,  and  not  an  ad- 
dition. This  change  is  all  that  we  can  have  ;  and  it  is 
enough,  as  well  as  all  that  is  possible.  As  the  issue  of  our 
literal  resurrection  will  be  to  "  fashion  our  vile  bodies  into 


100  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

a  likeness  to  Christ's  glorious  body ;"  so  the  issue  of  this 
spiritual  resurrection  is,  to  refashion  our  fallen  souls  into  a 
likeness  to  his  more  glorious  Godhead.  What  more  than 
this  can  we  have  ?     What  more  than  this  can  we  desire  ? 

II.  The  way  being  thus  opened,  I  advance  toward  the 
direct  subject  of  this  part  of  the  treatise,  the  true  nature  of 
baptism. 

1.  The  first  consideration  which  I  submit,  after  what 
has  been  said,  is  this.  The  notion  of  original  righteous- 
ness and  original  sin,  which  has  been  examined,  as  the 
foundation  of  a  correlative  theory  of  baptismal  regeneration, 
having  been  shown  to  be  unscriptural,  a  mere  figment  of  the 
imagination,  we  are  left,  not  only  at  liberty,  but  under  obli- 
gation, to  interpret  John,  iii.,  5,  and  other  passages  on  the 
subject  of  baptism,  into  a  correspondence  with  that  other 
great  system  of  Biblical  Theology,  which  the  advocates  for 
the  one  examined  pronounce  to  be  *'  radically  and  essentially 
different"  from  theirs.  Having  shown  their  notion  of  orig- 
inal righteousness  and  sin  to  be  without  foundation,  I  con- 
ceive we  are  not  at  liberty  to  reject  that  notion,  and  yet 
cling  to  its  correlative  theory  of  baptismal  regeneration.  We 
are  boimd,  as  consistent  interpreters  of  the  Bible,  to  reject 
both  or  neither ;  for  they  are  tied  inseparably  together,  and  to- 
gether they  both  stand  or  fall.  Next  to  the  abstract  being  of 
a  God,  all  doctrinal  theology  originates  in  the  account  which 
the  Bible  gives  of  the  creation  and  fall  of  man.  Hence,  of 
necessity,  the  theory  of  baptismal  regeneration,  which  has 
been  mentioned,  pushes  itself  back  to  that  spring  of  doc- 
trines, and  feels  among  the  great  facts,  that  lie  gushing 
there,  for  some  opening  to  which  it  may  trace  up  its  own 
stream  :  it  goes  back  to  that  beginning  of  systems,  and  feels 
among  those  great  foundation-stones  for  some  basis  on 
which  it  may  rest  its  own  theory.  And  the  very  fact  that, 
in  thus  going  back,  it  has  found  a  spring-head,  of  which  the 
Bible  knows  nothing ;  that  it  has  discovered  a  foundation- 


THE    NATURE    OP    BAPTISM.  101 

Stone,  which  lies,  not  among  the  hills  that  circle  Eden,  the 
cradle  of  theology  as  well  as  of  man,  but  in  the  land  of 
dreams,  as  it  spreads  somewhere  beyond ;  the  very  fact 
that  this  theory,  in  thus  going  back,  has  traced  itself  to  fic- 
tion, and  based  itself  on  error,  proves  that,  in  itself,  it  is  but 
a  figment  of  error.  The  true  system  of  Biblical  Theology, 
in  thus  carrying  itself  back  to  its  origin,  can  make  no  mis- 
take in  finding  its  true  spring-head,  its  real  corner-stone. 
To  suppose  the  possibility  of  such  a  mistake  is  to  suppose 
as  great  an  absurdity  as  that,  in  tracing  the  sacred  Jordan 
to  its  source,  you  might  find  it  in  the  fabled  mountain, 
which  is  said  to  pour  down  the  infant  Ganges  toward  the 
scene  of  his  awful  deification !  As  great  an  absurdity  as 
that,  in  seeking  for  the  corner-stone  of  God's  holy  Temple, 
you  might  find  it  under  the  gorgeous  Pagoda  that  houses 
the  hideous  Juggernauth  !  The  spiritual  affinities  of  truth 
are  with  the  true  ;  those  of  error  only  are  with  the  false. 

Is  it  not  true,  then,  that  the  notion  of  original  righteous- 
ness and  sin  to  which  this  theory  of  baptismal  regeneration 
traces  itself  back  is  a  fictitious  and  unreal  thing  1  Is  it  not 
true  that  not  only  our  article,  but  the  Bible,  Go(Vs  Word, 
knows  nothing  of  such  notion ;  and  that  this  notion  is  not 
only  a  stranger,  but  a  foreigner,  and  a  foe,  to  the  simple, 
though  sublime  truths  of  Revelation  ?  If  these  things  are 
too  palpable  to  be  hidden  from  the  open  eye,  then  we  claim 
the  right,  ay,  and  feel  the  bond,  to  set  aside  from  our  faith, 
not  only  this  notion  itself,  but  also  its  legitimate  correlative, 
baptismal  regeneration,  as  here  understood.  They  both  be- 
long to  the  same  system,  a  system  of  covering,  obscuring, 
and  corrupting  additions  to  the  true  system  of  the  Bible ; 
they  belong  to  a  system  which  is  "  radically  and  essentially 
different"  from  this  of  the  Bible,  not  so  much  by  denying  as 
by  overlaying,  crushing,  and  killing  it  with  its  ponderous 
masses  of  addition.  The  whole,  therefore,  must  be  heaved 
12 


102  THE  NATURE  OP  BAPTISM. 

off  together,  or  this  system  will  find  no  relief;  its  free  activ- 
ities  will  be  perpetually  laboring  under  a  mountain. 

2.  The  next  consideration  which  I  submit,  in  approach- 
ing the  true  idea  of  the  nature  of  baptism,  is  this  :  As  the 
great  end  which  Christ  seeks  in  his  work  of  redemption  is, 
not  a  Divine  addition  to  our  nature,  but  a  Scriptural  change 
of  our  nature ;  not  a  participation  in  the  whole  nature  of 
Christ,  "  body,  soul,  and  Divinity,"  but  a  being  morally 
"  conformed  to  the  image  of  Christ,"  in  all  holy  and  spiritual 
perfectness  ;  so,  whatever  else  may  be  God^s  act  and  the 
souVs  experience  in  baptism,  it  can  not  he  the  working  and 
undergoing  of  this  great  needed  change.  This  is  undenia- 
ble. For,  in  the  case  of  all  adults,  this  change  is  required 
in  order  to  baptism  (see  Acts,  viii.,  37  ;  also  the  Church 
Catechism  on  Sacraments),  and  if  they  have  not  this  change 
hefore  baptism,  they  receive  this  sacrament  "  unworthily" 
and  so,  in  the  language  of  our  article,  "  purchase  to  them- 
selves," not  a  blessing,  but  "damnation."  —  Article  xxv. 
While,  in  the  case  of  infants,  this  change  can  not  be  wrought. 
It  is  a  change,  the  steps  in  which  are,  "  repentance  toward 
God,  and  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;"  leading  us 
out  into  the  life  of  holy  love  and  holy  obedience,  with  every 
other  affection  of  a  sanctified  nature.  We  can  have  no  oth- 
er idea  than  this  of  the  change  required  in  us.  But  how 
can  we  repent  of  sin  till  we  understand  and  feel  what  sin  is, 
and  that  we  are  its  perpetrators  ?  Or  how  can  we  helieve, 
till  we  know  and  approve  that  in  which  we  are  to  believe, 
or  Him  in  whom  we  are  to  repose  our  faith  1  And  how  can 
we  feel  holy  love,  or  render  holy  obedience,  or  exercise  any 
other  affection  of  a  holy  nature,  till  the  springs  of  these 
things  are  reopened  within  us  ?  All  this  is  clearly  impos- 
sible, and  therefore  it  is  that  this  change,  whatever  else 
may  be  wrought  in  infant  baptism,  ca7i  not  be  wrought. 

This  point  is  not  presented  magisterially.  The  Church,  in 
her  Catechism,  that  system  of  rudiments  with  which  she 


THE    NATURE    OF   BAPTISM.  103 

imbues  the  opening  minds  of  her  children,  has  so  decided. 
Having  stated  that  "  repentance,  whereby  they  forsake  sin, 
and  faith,  wh-ereby  they  steadfastly  believe  the  promises  of 
Ood,"  are  "  required"  as  prerequisites  in  those  who  come 
to  baptism,  she  asks,  "  Why,  then,  are  infants  baptized, 
when,  by  reason  of  their  tender  age,  they  can  not  perform 
them ;"  can  not  feel  the  repentance,  nor  exercise  the  faith, 
which  are  required  ?  And  her  answer  is,  "  Because  they 
promise  them  both  by  their  sureties  ;  which  promise,  when 
they  come  to  age,  themselves  are  bound  to  perform."  Their 
natural  guardians  answer  for  them  ;  and  this  lays  them, 
with  increased  solemnity,  under  a  blessed  obligation  to  do 
what  is  required  the  moment  they  become  capaVh  of  it. 
Of  it,  in  ififancy,  they  are  not  capable.  This  decision  of 
the  Church  is  based,  undeniably,  in  the  veiy  reason  and 
nature  of  things.  In  the  baptized  infant,  the  mind  takes  no 
cognizance  of  what  is  sacramentally  passing.  It  is  utterly 
incapable  of  understanding  what  is  done  for  it,  or  of  com- 
prehending a  single  truth  uttered  over  it.  And  it  is  impos- 
sible to  conceive  that  the  moral  nature,  or  character  of  the 
soul,  should  be  changed,  or  in  any  way  remedially  affected, 
except  as,  in  accordance  with  the  principle  laid  down  in 
the  first  chapter,  it  is  put  intelligently  in  motion  ;  made  to 
act,  to  think,  to  understand,  to  feel,  to  repent,  to  believe,  to 
pray,  to  strive,  to  love^  to  hope,  or,  in  some  way,  put  forth 
its  powers  in  the  apprehension  of  those  truths  in  which  the 
Spirit  comes,  and  which  bring  to  view  God  and  the  reali- 
ties of  the  spiritual  world.  This  point,  then,  needs  no  far- 
ther argument.  The  great  change  required  in  every  actual 
sinner,  in  order  to  salvation,  can  not  be  wrought  in  baptism, 
whatever  else  be  passing  there. 

We  should  now  be  prepared  for  entering  on  an  examina- 
tion of  the  principal  texts  that  relate  to  the  sacrament  of 
baptism,  were  it  not  that,  having  dealt  thus  far  with  the 
great  principles  of  the  case,  without  turning  aside  to  notice 


104  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

objections,  or  matters  incidental  to  the  subject,  it  may  be 
well  to  spend  some  time,  before  proceeding  to  such  an  ex- 
amination, in  disposing  of  some  suggestions  arising  from 
what  has  been  said.  But  for  this  we  shall  require  the  time 
and  space  of  subsequent  chapters.  Here,  therefore,  the 
present  is  closed.  With  our  views  of  original  righteous- 
ness and  sin  clearly  defined  and  well  settled,  with  the  two 
great  and  essentially  diverse  systems  of  theology,  to  which 
different  theories  on  those  points  have  given  rise,  distinctly 
before  our  minds,  and  with  principles  to  guide  us  in  look- 
ing into  the  Scriptures  for  the  true  idea  of  baptism,  we  may 
well  feel  that  we  have  enough  for  present  thought  and  di- 
gestion. It  is  of  infinite  importance  that  we  feel  the  prac- 
tical relations  of  what  has  been  advanced.  If  it  all  termi- 
nated in  mere  speculation  ;  if  the  views  which  have  been 
discussed  could  have  no  influence  on  our  real  characters, 
and  on  our  daily  religion  ;  on  the  character  of  the  Church,, 
and  on  the  progress  of  the  Gospel,  I  would  not  spend  a 
breath  in  giving  my  thoughts  vent.  But  it  is  not  so.  The 
very  reason  why  I  have  said  so  much,  and  spoken  so  ear- 
nestly,  is,  because  the  topics  which  have  occupied  our 
thoughts  are  most  vital  in  their  influence,  and  affect  most 
vitally  the  whole  state  and  destiny  of  our  religion,  whether 
in  the  individual  or  in  the  mass.  These  topics,  indeed, 
lie  remote  from  e  very-day  thought ;  but  they  send  down 
their  influences  upon  us  with  an  ever-living  energy.  They 
are  like  the  sources  of  a  great  stream,  which  lie  among  dis- 
tant, and,  perhaps,  to  many,  inaccessible  mountains;  but 
whose  waters  reach  us  for  all  that,  either  to  delight  and 
bless  us,  or  to  overwhelm  and  sweep  us  away.  According 
to  the  views  which  we  adopt  of  these  topics,  the  Gospel 
and  the  Church  will  prove  to  us  full,  either  of  simple  beau- 
ty and  perennial  life,  or  of  turgid  splendor  and  unsaying 
show. 


THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM.  105 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

John,  iii.,  5 :  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  except  a  man  be  bom  of 
water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  can  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God." 

Before  proceeding  to  a  direct  examination  of  this  and 
Other  texts  on  the  subject  of  baptism,  I  have  promised  to 
consider  certain  suggestions  which  may  arise  out  of  what 
was  said  in  the  last  chapter.  We  there  saw  that  the  two 
correlative  ideas  of  man's  fall  and  recovery,  which  make 
these  facts  consist  in  the  forfeiture  and  restoration  of  a  mys- 
terious something  of  and  from  God,  "  over  and  above  nature," 
or  added  to  that  perfect  nature  which  was  created  in  the 
image  of  God,  are  unscriptural,  based  on  mischievous  error, 
and  lead  to  a  great  system  of  theology,  which  is  full  of  mir- 
acle in  sacraments,  and  of  superstition  in  ceremonies.  We 
also  saw  that  the  true  view  of  these  points,  as  given  in  the 
Bible,  is,  that  our  fall  and  recovery  consist  in  the  loss  and 
restoration  of  the  very  image  of  God  wherein  we  were  cre- 
ated ;  in  a  change  of  our  nature  itself,  first  from  holiness  to 
sin,  and  then,  with  a  reverse  movement,  from  sin  to  holi- 
ness ;  and  that  this  view  leads  to  another  great  and  "  radi- 
cally different"  system  of  theology,  a  religion  of  Bible  doc- 
trine in  the  understanding,  and  of  Bible  holiness  in  the 
heart.  And,  finally,  we  saw  that  the  change  now  required 
in  us,  in  order  to  a  recovery  of  the  lost  image  of  God,  is 
one  which  is  not  wrought  in  the  baptism  of  adults,  and 
which,  whatever  else  is  transacted  there,  can  not  be  wrought 
in  the  baptism  of  infants. 

I.  The  first  suggestion,  then,  which  may  arise  from  these 
views  is  this.     Although  that  great  change  which  every 


106  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

actual  sinner  needs,  can  not  he  fully  wrought  on  unconscious 
and  unthinking  infancy,  yet  may  not  the  principle,  the  seed 
of  this  change,  the  germ,  as  it  were,  of  the  new  life,  be  then 
implanted  in  baptism  ;  to  be  afterward  developed  and 
brought  into  growth  when  the  infant  becomes  capable  of 
understanding  and  feeling  truth,  and  of  exercising  intelli- 
gently repentance  and  faith  ? 

1.  In  order  to  answer  this  suggestion,  I  must  inquire,  m 
turn,  What  is  meant  by  this  principle,  this  seed,  this  germ,  of 
which  so  much  is  said  1  Are  we  to  understand  by  it  the 
substance  of  the  Divine  nature,  so  communicated  in  baptism 
as  to  become  incorporate  with  the  substance  of  the  soul, 
though  only  in  future  years  of  intelligence  to  be  developed  1 
If  so,  what  is  this  but  the  very  theory  already  examined,  and 
shown  to  be  unscriptural ;  the  theory  which  supposes  that 
a  Divine  addition  to  our  nature  is  what  we  have  forfeited, 
and  that  this  addition,  therefore,  is  what  we  are  to  regain  1 
The  very  terms,  principle,  seed,  germ,  used  in  this  connec- 
tion, run  into  that  unscriptural  theology,  and  are  calculated 
to  lead  astray  from  the  theology  of  the  Bible.  What  is 
such  a  principle,  or  germ,  when  implanted  ?  Nothing  more 
nor  less  than  the  literal  Divine  nature  itself.  And  what 
must  it  become  by  future  development  and  growth,  if  we 
may  suppose  such  a  thing  as  that  the  Divine  nature  is  sus- 
ceptible of  development  and  growth  ?  Nothing  more  nor  less 
than  itself  enlarged.  A  seed,  when  it  grows,  a  germ,  when 
it  germinates,  produces,  not  a  different  substance,  but  sim- 
ply its  unfolded  self,  the  full-grown  plant,  which,  perfect  in 
all  its  parts,  lay  in  wondrous  miniature  within  the  yet  un- 
germinating  seed.  In  like  manner,  this  Divine  seed,  or 
germ,  supposed  to  be  implanted  at  baptism,  of  and  from  God, 
must  become,  by  subsequent  development,  not  a  renewed 
human  mind,  but  simply  its  own  unfolding  self,  the  fuller 
expanding  of  that  mysterious  Divine  embryo.  Hence,  the 
unscriptural  theology  adverted  to,  when  speaking  of  justifi- 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  107 

cation  as  given  in  baptism,  calls  it,  among  other  names, 
"  Christ  in  us"  (not  changing  our  sinful  natures,  and  making 
them  holy,  but),  "  as  if  it  were  a  light  streaming  from  our 
hearts,  pervading  the  whole  man,  inwrapping  and  hiding  the 
lineaments  and  members  of  our  fallen  nature,  circling  round 
us  and  returning  inward  to  the  centre  from  which  it  issues."* 
And  hence,  the  terms  principle,  seed,  germ,  are  so  frequent- 
ly used  in  that  theology,  when  making  the  higher  sacra- 
ment of  the  Eucharist  consist  mainly  in  developing  the  mys- 
tery implanted  at  baptism,  by  communicating  to  the  recipi- 
ent the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  inseparably  united,  as  these 
are  held  to  be,  with  His  soul  and  Divinity .f 

But  if  this  seed  or  germ  be  not  an  actual  impartation  of 
the  Divine  nature,  is  it  a  mysterious  something  intermedi- 
ate between  the  Divine  nature  and  the  human,  and  the 
cause  of  a  sanctifying  change  in  the  latter;  a  something  in 
the  soul,  yet  not  o/the  soul  ?  if  so,  how  is  this  to  be  put 
into  subsequent  action  ?  Do  you  say  by  religious  instruc- 
tion, by  the  influences  of  the   Spirit  in  the  future  use  of 


*  Newman  on  Justification,  p.  ISi. 

t  See  Dr.  Pusey's  Sermon,  passim ;  also  on  Baptism,  Tract  67,  p.  216, 
238,  239,  253. 

It  is  true  that  these  writers  speak  much  of  this  gift,  ihongh  originally 
neither  a  part  of  us,  nor  a  change  in  us,  yet  as  "  tending  to  become  part  of 
us ;"  as  "  first  hiding  our  deformity,  and  then  removing  it"  (Newman  on 
Just.,  p.  197) ;  as  "casting  out,  or  absorbing  into  itself  our  natural  mortal- 
ity, and  death,  and  corruption"  (Dr.  Pusey's  Sermon,  p.  7)  ;  and  as  finally 
"recreating  the  Spirit  in  us  to  newness  of  life,  and  making  us  '  partakers 
of  the  Divine  nature.' " — Sermon,  p.  9.  But  here  are  both  the  absurdity 
and  the  perniciousness  of  their  system.  The  Spirit  of  God,  through  the 
truth  of  God,  may  change  our  natures  into  a  likeness  to  the  Divine.  But 
how  can  that  which  is  no  part  of  us  tend  to  become  a  part  of  us  ?  How  can 
our  clothing,  to  use  Mr.  Newman's  idea,  become  our  flesh?  Besides,  to 
speak  of  a  Divine  gift,  which,  at  one  time,  is  said  to  be  increased  by  fuller 
influxes  of  itself  (Pusey  on  Baptism,  Tract  67,  N.  Y.  ed.,  p.  24),  and,  at  an- 
other, is  supposed  to  conform  or  absorb  us  into  the  Divine  nature,  is  to 
introduce  into  theology  a  confused  mystery,  at  once  the  spring  of  perplexi- 
ties and  the  parent  of  superstitions. 


108  THE    NATURE    OF   BAPTISiM. 

truth  ?  But  how  can  this  be  ?  By  the  use  of  truth  in  riper 
years,  the  Spirit  may  affect,  move,  and  change  the  soul  it- 
self. But  how  can  it  animate  and  put  in  growth  an  inter- 
mediate principle,  which  is  neither  the  soul  itself,  nor  yet 
an  impartation  of  the  Divine  nature  1 

If  you  say  that  this  principle  is  the  germ  of  new  and  holy 
affections  in  the  soul,  this  must  mean  either  the  germ  ol 
new  and  holy  affections  added  to  those  which  are  original, 
or  the  germ  of  a  renewal  of  these  original  affections  them- 
selves. If  it  mean  the  former,  it  is  evidently  false  ;  for  the 
work  of  the  Spirit,  whether  at  baptism  or  subsequently,  does 
not  consist  in  adding  even  the gerin  of  new  affections  to  those 
which  belong  originally  to  the  soul ;  but  in  changing  these 
original  ones  themselves,  that  they  may  become  new  or  holy. 
And  if  it  mean  this  Za^/er,  then  it  implies  the  commencement  of 
that  very  change,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  our  Church  in  her 
Catechism,  and  reason  in  her  sanctions,  pronounce  impossi- 
ble in  infancy  ;  because  the  steps  in  this  change  are  that  re- 
pentance and  that  faith  which  infants,  "  by  reason  of  their 
tender  age,  can  not  perform."  I  say,  it  implies  the  com- 
mencement of  this  change  ;  for  the  germ  of  a  change,  if  you 
pass  from  the  cause  which  produces  it,  can  he  nothing  but 
the  change  itself  begun.  And  if  this  change  may  be  begun, 
so  also  may  it  be  completed,  in  infancy  ;  so  far,  at  least, 
as  the  repentance  and  faith  are  concerned  ;  and  thus  we 
should  have,  what  our  Catechism,  speaking  in  the  clear 
tones  of  reason,  pronounces  impossible  in  infancy,  repent- 
ance, without  knowing  what  is  to  be  repented  of ;  and  faith, 
without  knowing  what  is  to  be  believed  ! 

There  is,  then,  to  the  terms  principle,  seed,  germ,  of  life, 
no  sense  intermediate  between  that  of  an  addition  and  incor 
poralion  of  the  Divine  nature  to  and  ivith  the  human,  and  that 
of  a  change  of  our  nature  itself  by  the  agency  of  the  Holy 
Spirit ;  a  change,  through  repentance  and  faith,  from  sin 
to  holiness  ;  a  change,  which  must  be  wrought  by  the  Spirit 


THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM.  109 

in  the  use  of  Truth ;  a  change,  which  can  be  wrought  ia 
those  years  only  of  opening  intelligence  and  accountability, 
that  lie  forward  on  the  course  of  life  at  a  greater  or  less  re- 
move from  the  moment  of  infant  dedication  to  God.  And 
to  invest  those  terras  with  this  idea  is,  of  course,  to  abandon 
that  modified  form  of  the  theory  of  baptismal  regeneration, 
designed  to  be  presented  by  the  suggestion  now  under  con- 
sideration. 

2.  But,  clinging  still  to  the  form  of  the  suggestion,  some 
may  ask.  Is  the  renovation  of  our  nature  in  infancy  literal- 
ly impossible  ?  Have  we  not  at  least  some  examples  of  not 
only  its  possibility,  but  its  actual  realization  ■?  Was  not 
Samuel  made  holy  from  a  child  ?  Was  not  Jeremiah  "  sanc- 
tified from  the  womb  ?"  Did  it  not  "  please  God"  to  make 
the  Apostle  Paul,  even  "  from  his  mother's  womb,"  a"  sepa- 
rated," or  holy  child  ?  Was  not  Timothy  an  instance  of  this 
early  sanctification  1  And,  more  specially  still,  was  it  not 
prophesied  that  John  the  Baptist  should  "  he  filled  with  the 
Holy  Ghost,  even  from  his  mother's  womb  V 

(1.)  To  these  inquiries  I  answer,  first,  the  examples  addu- 
ced do  not  strictly  affect  the  case  before  us.  Neither  Samuel 
nor  Jeremiah,  neither  Paul  nor  John  the  Baptist,  was  bap- 
tized in  infancy.  Like  other  Jewish  children,  they  were 
"  circumcised  the  eighth  day  ;"  but  this  does  not  prove  ei- 
ther that  infants  may  be  renewed,  or  that  their  renovation 
takes  place  in  baptism. 

(2.)  But,  not  to  stand  on  this,  I  answer,  second,  the  Scrip- 
tural idea  of  being  "  sanctified  from  the  womb"  is  not  that 
implied  in  the  inquiries  just  made,  touching  the  possible  re- 
newal of  our  nature  in  infancy.  But  it  is  that  in  which 
so  many  things  among  the  Hebrews  were  made  relatively 
holy  ;  as  the  persons  of  prophets,  priests,  and  kings  ;  the 
Sabbath  and  the  Temple  ;  the  instruments  and  vessels  of 
the  Sanctuary  ;  and  even  houses,  fields,  and  animals. — Lev., 
xxvii.,  14,  ad  fin.     This  sanctification,  according  to  one  of 


110  THE    NATURE    OP    BAPTISM. 

the  most  common  senses  of  the  Hebrew  term,  consisted  in 
being  separated,  set  apart,  devoted,  from  common  to  sacred 
uses  ;  from  our  own  use  to  God's  ;  as  when  a  priest  was  set 
apart  and  consecrated  to  his  office  ;  or  a  farm,  to  the  sup- 
port of  God's  ministry  and  worship. 

Now  it  was  in  this  sense  that  Samuel  was  set  apart  and 
devoted  to  the  Lord  even  before  he  was  conceived  (1  Sam., 
i.,  10,  11);  that  Jeremiah  was  "  sanctified  before  he  came 
forth  of  the  womb"  (Jer.,  i.,  5)  ;  and  that  Paul  was  "  separa- 
ted" unto  the  apostleship  "  from  his  mother's  womb"  (Gal., 
i.,  15)  ;  in  all  which  there  was  nothing  implied  but  a  rel- 
ative, ojficial  devotement  to  the  great  future  calling  of  their 
lives.  As  to  their  inward,  real  sanctification,  Samuel,  we 
may  well  believe,  received  his  while  spending  his  young, 
but  intelligent  years  in  the  Temple,  hearing  the  truths  of 
God  from  aged  Eli,  when  "  the  Word  of  the  Lord  was  j)re- 
cious,"  because  "  in  those  days  there  was  no  open  vision  ;" 
and  while  living  there  amid  the  lights  of  a  freshly-dawning 
revelation,  as  they  streamed  around  his  own  opening,  but 
well-instructed  mind. —  1  Sam.,  iii.,  1-14.  Jeremiah  possi- 
bly and  probably  received  his  when  "  the  Lord  put  forth 
his  hand  and  touched  his  mouth,  and  said,  '  Behold,  I  have 
put  my  words  into  thy  mouth  ;'  "  thus,  while  furnishing  him 
with  his  messages  as  "  a  prophet  unto  the  nations,"  curing 
him  also  of  his  just  expressed  childish  fears,  and  giving  him 
the  heart  of  a  true  man  of  God,  and  of  a  courageous  servant 
of  the  Lord. — Jer.,  i.,  5—9.  And  Paul  doubtless  received  his 
when  Jesus  met  the  persecutor  on  his  wrathful  embassy  to 
Damascus,  threw  back  the  curtain  of  common  light  which 
had  concealed  his  form,  shone  out  in  all  the  dazzling  bright- 
ness of  "  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,"  and  talked  with  the 
stricken  man  in  those  mighty  words  which,  rendered 
quickening  by  the  Spirit,  made  Inm  feel  that  it  was  "hard 
to  kick  against  the  pricks." — Acts.,  xxvi,,  12-18. 

The  case  of  Timothy  has  in  it  nothing  even  unusual. 


THE   NATURE   OF    BAPTISM.  Ill 

Being  a  semi-Gentile,  with  a  Greek  father  and  a  Jewish 
mother,  the  latter  of  whom  believed  in  Christ,  he  may  have 
been  baptized  in  infancy  ;  though  this  is  far  from  probable. 
But,  be  this  as  it  may,  the  secret  of  his  early  piety  is 
clearly  revealed.  His  "  mother  Eunice  and  his  grandmother 
Lois,"  being  women  of  "  unfeigned  faith,"  had,  as  the  apos- 
tle intimates,  "  from  a  child  taught  him  those  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, which  are  able  to  make  wise  unto  salvation,  through 
faith  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus" — 2  Tim.,  iii.,  14,  15  ;  comp. 
2  Tim.,  i.,  5.  Thus,  as  is  often  the  case,  God  by  his  Spirit 
early  "  sanctified  him  through  the  Truth." 

The  case  of  John  the  Baptist  seems  to  be  more  in  point ; 
for,  though  not  himself  baptized,  but  brought  into  the  an- 
cient Church  by  the  seal  of  circumcision,  yet  there  was  a 
foregoing  promise  to  his  father  that  he  should  "  be  Jilled 
with  the  Holy  Ghost  from  his  mother's  womb." — Luke,  i.,  15. 
But  the  pertinency  of  this  case  is,  I  apprehend,  only  seeming ; 
for,  when  we  consider  the  force  existing  in  the  use  of  lan- 
guage, which,  among  the  Hebrews,  had  made  the  phrase 
"  separated,  or  sanctified  from  the  womb,"  simply  express- 
ive of  this  idea,  "  designated,  or  set  apart,  by  God,  to  some 
sacred  office  or  special  work  ;"  and  when  we  remember 
that  the  father  of  John  was  of  the  priestly  line,  and  that  John 
himself,  being  born  a  priest,  was  still  farther  designated  in 
the  high  counsels  of  God  to  an  office  which  made  him 
greater  than  the  greatest  of  the  ancient  prophets,  the  office 
of  immediate  herald  to  the  Son  of  God,  it  will  appear  but 
reasonable  to  attribute  the  increased  strength  of  the  expres- 
sion "  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost"  to  the  semi-miraculous 
character  of  his  conception,  to  the  superior  dignity  of  the 
station  to  which  he  was  separated,  and  to  the  fact  that  he 
was  to  be,  at  a  very  early  period,  inspired  in  that  sense  in 
which  all  o//ier  prophets  were  inspired.  Taking  this  as  the 
true  force  of  the  expression,  we  know  very  well  that  such 
inspiration  had  no  connection  with  the  renewing  and  sancti- 


112;  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

fying  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  his  ordinary  work  of 
changing  the  heart  from  sin  to  holiness,  except  as  they 
both  proceeded  from  the  same  agent.  Doubtless  John  was 
separated,  "  or  sanctified  from  the  womb,"  to  his  singularly 
high  office,  in  the  same  sense  in  which  Samuel,  Jeremiah, 
and  Paul  were  to  theirs  ;  though  possibly,  earlier  and  more 
amply  than  they,  inspired  as  the  great  heralding  prophet  of 
the  Messiah.  But  the  work  which  made  him,  like  all  oth- 
er saints,  renewed  and  holy  in  heart,  fashioned  into  the  re- 
newed image  of  God  within  him,  was,  we  may  well  believe, 
wrought  in  the  ordinary  way,  amid  the  early  teachings  of 
the  sanctuary,  and  the  faithful  instructions  and  prayers  of 
his  holy  parents  :  blessed,  as  such  means  usually  are,  by 
the  quickening  and  hallowing  influences  of  the  Spirit.  This, 
too,  accounts  for  the  difference  of  language  which  we  find 
between  the  prophecy  before  his  conception,  that  he  should 
"  be  Jilled  with  the  Holy  Ghost  even  from  his  mother's 
womb ;"  and  the  historical  remark  after  his  circumcision, 
that  "  the  child  grew  and  waxed  strong  in  spirit." — Luke, 
i.,  80.  The  former  was  evidently  spoken  of  his  prophetic 
inspiration,  which  was  to  be  at  once  full,  incapable  of  jcax- 
ing  or  increase ;  the  latter  was  as  evidently  said  of  the  re- 
sult of  God's  blessing  on  the  early  religious  training  which 
he  doubtless  received,  and  which  was  capable  of  being  in- 
creasingly eflfectual. 

That  I  have  given  the  true  meaning  of  the  prophecy,  that 
the  infant  .John  should  "  be  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost," 
&c.,  receives  confirmation  from  the  language  immediately 
applied  to  his  parents,  as  compared  with  that  applied  to  the 
twelve  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  Of  his  mother,  when  re- 
ceiving the  visit  of  Mary,  it  is  said,  "  And  Elizabeth  was 
filed  with  the  Holy  Ghost"  (Luke,  i.,  41);  as  a  proof  of 
which,  she  instantly  fell  into  the  sublime  utterances  of 
prophecy.  And  of  his  father,  when,  at  the  circumcision  of 
the  child,  his  mysteriously  bound  "tongue  was  loosed,"  it 


THE    NATURE    OF   BAPTISM.  113 

is  said,  "  Zacharias  was  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost^'  (Luke, 
i.,  67)  ;  as  a  proof  of  which,  he  also  was  forthwith  rapt  away 
into  the  loftiness  of  the  pro'pket's  song.  Compare  now  what 
was  said  of  the  Twelve  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  When 
"  suddenly  there  came  from  heaven  a  sound  as  of  a  rushing, 
mighty  wind,"  and  when  "  cloven  tongues  like  as  of  fire  ap- 
peared and  sat  on  each  of  them,"  it  is  added,  "And  they  were 
all  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost ,-"  in  proof  of  which,  they,  too, 
immediately  "  began  to  speak  with  other  tongues,  as  the  Spir- 
it gave  them  utterance." — Acts,  ii.,  2-4.  The  phraseology 
is  in  all  the  cases  identical,  and  evidently  expressive  of  the 
one  idea  of  being  "  set  apart"  to  the  execution  of  a  sacred 
ojfice,  and  filled  with  the  impulses  of  a  Divine  inspiration. 
And  this  inspiration,  though  generally  felt  by  such  as  were 
also  true  saints,  was  yet  sometimes  felt  by  wicked  men,  and 
therefore  had  no  connection,  save  in  its  source,  with  the 
quickening  and  sanctifying  influences  of  the  Spirit,  in  His 
ordinary  work  in  the  heart.  John  was  thus  set  apart  and 
filled  as  the  greatest  of  prophets  for  life ;  Zacharias  and 
Elizabeth,  as  the  prophets  of  a  grand  yet  transient  occasion  ; 
and  the  Twelve,  as  both  the  chief  evangelists  and  prophets 
of  the  then  opening  Christian  dispensation. 

It  may,  indeed,  be  inquired,  If  John's  gift  were  like  that 
of  Zacharias  and  Elizabeth,  or  like  that  of  the  Twelve,  as 
the  language  in  which  it  is  expressed  would  seem  to  indi- 
cate, why  did  he  not,  like  them,  in  proof  of  his  gift,  fall  at 
once  into  the  utterances  of  prophecy,  or  into  the  use  of 
tongues?  I  answer,  for  two  reasons.  1.  The  prophet- 
child  is  not  the  prophet-man.  Though  we  were  to  allow, 
therefore,  that  his  full  inspiration  came  very  early,  yet  we 
should  not  look  for  very  early  exercises  of  the  gift.  To  a 
great  extent,  God,  even  in  His  extraordinary  bestowments, 
observes  ordinary  rules.  The  favored  child,  while  others 
wondered  in  their  hearts  what  lay  within  him,  must  still  re- 
main a  child,  and  repress  his  awful  gift,  till  retirement  and 
K  2 


114  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

manhood  had  given  him  natural  and  customary  authority 
over  his  cotemporaries.  2.  But  it  is  not  certain  that  in- 
spiration was  bestowed  so  early  as  the  inquiry  supposes. 
The  language  used,  when  rightly  understood,  fixes  not  the 
date  of  the  gift.  From  the  analogy  of  persons  "  separated 
or  sanctified  from  the  womb,"  it  is  evident  that  the  individ- 
uals thus  signalized  were  exceptions  from  ordinary  cases, 
that  they  were  to  be  born  for  an  end,  special  to  themselves, 
in  connection  with  the  Divine  purposes  of  grace  ;  and  that 
this  end  was  to  furnish  the  great  pursuit  and  business  of 
their  lives.  The  phrases,  ^'■separated,  sanctified,  filled  with 
the  Holy  Ghost,  from  the  womb,"  may  therefore  mean  no 
more  than  that  God  thus  early  signified  a  special  Divine 
purpose  in  the  birth  of  the  individuals  thus  distinguished, 
without  tying  Himself  to  time,  in  the  actual  bestowment  of 
their  miraculous  endowments.  It  was  '■'■from  the  womV 
that  their  special  designation  to  one  great  purpose  was  made 
known.  The  actual  impulses  of  inspiration  or  of  other  gifts 
may  have  been,  and  doubtless  were,  bestowed  only  as  occa- 
sion demanded  their  exercise.  Facts  in  the  other  cases  bear 
out  this  view  :  why,  then,  should  they  not  weigh  in  judging 
of  the  case  of  John  7  His  case  evidently  belongs  to  their 
class.  It  is  a  class  which  comprehends  but  a  few  individ- 
uals named  in  the  Bible.  In  their  general  characteristics, 
their  cases  conform  to  common  rules,  and  they  should  there- 
fore be  all  judged  by  the  rules  which  are  common  to  them 
all.  John's  special  designation  to  his  peculiarly  high  and 
honored  destiny  was,  like  that  of  the  others  of  his  class, 
made  known,  or  intimated,  "  even  from  the  womb,"  and  from 
the  first  he  was  probably  a  remarkable  child ;  but  we  have 
no  constraining  reason  for  supposing  that  the  fullness  of  the 
promised  inspiration  came  upon  him  till  near  the  time  when 
Christ  himself,  after  His  own  period  of  withdrawment  from 
the  world  and  quiet  abiding  the  arrival  of  the  customary 
term  of  authorized  manhood,  was  preparing  to  come  forth 


THE    NATURE    OF   BAPTISM.  115 

before  that  world,  the  glorious  Teacher,  and  Messiah  of  the 
nations. 

Such  being  the  circumstances  which  mark  the  case  of 
John,  I  can  not  repress  my  surprise  that  some  commenta- 
tors cite  it  as  a  proof  that,  for  the  purpose  of  changing  our 
sinful  nature,  the  Holy  Ghost  may  be  communicated  to  the 
infant,  even  while  in  its  mother's  womb  :  thus,  in  fact, 
giving  it  its  second  birth  before  it  has  received  its  first ! 
The  truth  is,  if  this  case  has  been  studied  rightly  and  under 
right  teaching,  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  point  now  be- 
fore us.  It  is  as  irrelevant  thereto  as  were  those  of  Samuel 
and  Jeremiah,  Paul  and  Timothy ;  and  the  inference  urged 
on  us  by  these,  the  strongest  of  all  cases  on  record,  is,  that 
the  Bible,  so  far  as  it  teaches  by  example,  teaches  nothing 
of  the  renewing  and  sanctifying  work  of  the  Spirit,  as 
wrought  in  infancy,  and  as  dissevered  from  that  instrument- 
ality, which  is  found  in  the  light  and  power  of  Divine 
Truth. 

3.  Still,  the  advocates  of  the  suggestion  under  consider- 
ation may  press  a  farther  inquiry.  Does  not  the  Bible 
teach,  if  not  by  example,  yet  in  doctrine,  that  that  work  may 
be  done  without  this  instrumentality,  and,  therefore,  in  in- 
fancy ■?  This  will  lead  me  to  an  examination  of  a  class  of 
passages  which  it  is  desirable  rightly  to  understand  in  con- 
nection with  this  subject.  Much  of  that  theology  which  is 
shadowed  in  the  suggestion  before  us  is  traceable  to  what 
the  Bible  says  of  "  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  of  Christ 
being  in  the  Christian,  in  short,  of  God  dwelling  in  the 
heart  of  every  true  believer. 

Before  enumerating  any  of  the  passages  in  which  this 
leading  idea  occurs,  it  is  proper  to  set  aside  all  those  in 
which  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  implies  simply  extraordinary 
inspiration,  or  other  miraculous  endowment.  These  belong 
not  to  our  subject,  because  they  have  no  connection  with 
the  renovating  change  of  our  sinful  nature.     If,  therefore,  I 


116  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

occasionally  refer  to  some  of  them,  it  will  not  be  for  the 
purpose  of  disproving  such  a  connection,  but  for  that  of  pre- 
paring for  a  right  understanding  of  those  which  properly 
belong  to  the  subject ;  in  which  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  means 
unquestionably  an  ordinary  gift ;  and  in  which  union  with 
Christ  and  participation  in  a  Divine  nature  imply  the  com- 
mon privilege  of  all  true  Christians. 

Scattered  through  the  Bible,  then,  are  numerous  texts,  in 
which  all  the  persons  in  the  Godhead  are  represented  as 
being,  or  dwelling  in  the  children  of  God;  or  in  which 
these  children  are  represented  as  in  union  with  God  in  all 
his  persons,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost ;  and  this  in- 
dwelling, or  union,  must  in  all  these  cases  be  considered 
as  the  peculiar  gift  of  the  Spirit.  The  following  are  the 
most  prominent  of  these  passages  : 

"  Thus  saith  the  High  and  Lofty  One,  I  dwell  with 
Mm  that  is  of  a  contrite  and  humble  Spirit." — Isa.,lvii.,  15. 
"  Ye  are  the  temples  of  the  living  God,  as  God  hath  said, 
I  will  dwell  in  them,  and  walk  in  them." — 2  Cor.,  vi.,  16. 
"  Precious  promises,  that  by  these  ye  might  be  partakers  of 
the  Divine  nature." — 2  Pet.,  i.,  4. 

"  Abide  in  me,  and  I  in  you." — John,  xv.,  4.  "  As  many 
of  you  as  have  been  baptized  into  Christ  have  put  on 
Christ." — Gal.,  iii.,  27.  "  Know  ye  not  your  own  selves, 
how  that  Jesus  Christ  is  in  you,  except  ye  be  reprobates  ?" 
—2  Cor.,  xiii.,  5.  "  This  mystery  among  the  Gentiles ; 
which  is  Christ  in  you,  the  hope  of  glory." — Col.,  i.,  27. 
"  My  little  children,  of  whom  I  travail  in  birth  again,  until 
Christ  be  formed  in  you,  I  desire  to  be  present  with  you," 
&c.— Gal.,  iv.,  19,  20. 

"  This  spake  he  of  the  Spirit,  which  they  that  believe 
on  him  should  receive."  —  John,  vii.,  39.  "  The  Spirit  of 
Truth — He  dwelleth  with  you,  and  shall  be  in  you." — John, 
xiv.,  17.     "  Know  ye  not  that  your  body  is  the  temple  of 


THE    NATURE    OF   BAPTISM.  ll*t 

the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is  in  you?" — 1  Cor.,  vi.,  19.  "  Be 
filled  with  the  Spirit." — Eph.,  v.,  18. 

Now  the  great  theme  of  these  and  similar  passages  is, 
the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  whereby,  as  Christians,  we  have 
all  that  is  meant  by  the  indwelling  of  God,  Father,  Son,  and 
Spirit,  in  all  His  true  children.  And  the  question  which 
they  present  is  this  :  What  is  their  import  ?  They  certainly 
mean  something  very  serious  and  vitally  important.  What 
is  their  meaning  ?  What  is  the  inresidence  of  which  they 
speak  ? 

In  seeking  an  answer  to  this  inquiry,  it  is  obvious  that, 
however  differently  in  different  phrases  the  idea  may  be 
expressed,  it  is,  in  all  cases,  one  and  the  same  thing.  If  we 
suppose  it  possible  that  the  gift  may  be  communicated  to 
infants,  still,  it  will  not  be  conceived  of  as  one  thing  in 
them,  and  another  in  adults ;  nor  as  one  thing  before  bap- 
tism, and  another  after  baptism.  It  must  be,  in  all  cases 
and  at  all  times,  one  and  the  same.  With  this  remark,  I 
proceed  to  the  inquiry.  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  pas- 
sages cited  ?    What  is  the  inresidence  of  which  they  speak  ? 

(1.)  In  the  first  place,  I  reply,  that  whatever  they  may 
mean,  they  do  not  connect  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  with  baptism 
as  its  instrument.  There  is,  indeed,  one  passage  which  I 
have  not  yet  recited,  and  one  of  those  which  I  have,  that 
seem  to  connect  this  gift  with  baptism ;  but  the  connection, 
I  apprehend,  is  only  seeming. 

(a.)  The  former  of  these  two  passages  is  a  part  of  the  ad- 
dress of  Peter  to  his  countrymen  on  the  day  of  Pentecost ; 
that  day  of  wondrous  effusion  on  the  Church  of  the  amazing 
gifts  of  the  Spirit,  in  miracle  and  inspiration.  When  those 
to  whom  the  bold  apostle  had  been  preaching  the  Gospel 
"  in  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  of  power,  were  pricked 
in  their  heart,"  and  began  to  cry  out,  "  What  shall  we  do  1" 
Peter  replied,  "  Repent,  and  be  baptized  every  one  of  you 
in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  for  the  remission  of  sins ;  and 


118  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

ye  shall   receive   the  gift  of  the   Holy    Ghost."  —  Acts, 
ii.,  38. 

Now  to  understand  what  is  meant  by  the  gift  promised  in 
this  case,  it  is  necessary  to  mark,  what  is  too  often  over- 
looked in  explaining  this  gift,  the  order  of  events,  as  here 
recorded.  Peter,  then,  had  been  preaching  to  them  the 
Gospel  of  "  Jesus  Christ,  and  him  crucified."  This 
preaching  was  unquestionably  accompanied  by  the  silent, 
convincing,  and  quickening  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
His  ordinary  gifts  of  grace.  As  a  consequence  of  this,  and 
while  the  preacher  was  yet  speaking,  "  they  were  pricked 
in  their  hearts :"  they  felt  the  first  deep  and  secret  move- 
ments of  a  new  life,  and  were  constrained  to  inquire, 
"  What  shall  we  do  ?"  To  this  inquiry  the  preacher  re- 
plied, "  Repent,  and  be  baptized  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ  for  the  remission  of  sins."  This  direction  they 
forthwith  obeyed.  Under  the  silent  influences  of  the  Spirit, 
accompanying  the  spoken  Word,  their  hearts  were  already 
pierced  with  a  sense  of  their  heinous  sins,  and  already 
convinced  that  He  whom  they  had  crucified  was  none 
other  than  their  own  true  Christ.  They  did,  therefore,  re- 
pent; they  did  believe  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ;  and  in 
this  faith  they  were  then  baptized,  in  seal  of  the  promise  of 
forgiven  sin.  Hence  it  is  added,  "  They  that  gladly  re- 
ceived his  Word  were  baptized."  Why  did  they  gladly 
receive  it?  Because  the  Spirit  inclined  their  hearts.  And 
why  were  they  baptized  ?  Because,  being  moved  by  the 
Spirit,  they  felt  that  true  repentance  and  faith  in  Christ, 
which,  as  we  learn  from  the  case  of  Philip  and  the  Eunuch 
(Acts,  viii.,  37),  were  indispensable  prerequisites  to  their 
baptism. 

We  are  now  ready  for  the  inquiry.  If  they  were  already 
under  the  influence  of  the  Spirit,  what  means  the  added 
promise,  that,  upon  being  baptized,  "  they  should  receive 
the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?     I  answer,  it  means  that  they 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  119 

also  should  become  sharers  in  those  amazing  endowments, 
with  which  they  had  just  seen  the  apostles  miraculously  in- 
vested. The  ordinary  grace  of  the  Spirit  is  ever  silent  and 
unfelt ;  that  is,  it  links  itself  with  the  truth,  and  so  enters 
the  mind  in  the  unnoticed  form  of  the  mind's  own  opera- 
tions. This  grace  they  had  already  effectually  received, 
though  as  yet  they  stopped  not  to  reflect  on  its  workings. 
Now  they  were  to  receive  something  remarkable  —  their 
share  in  the  miraculous  endowments  of  the  Spirit.  Hence, 
as  the  ground  of  his  promise,  the  apostle  refers  to  the 
prophecy  of  Joel,  which  had  already  begun  to  be  fulfilled 
amid  the  opening  marvels  of  the  Pentecost ;  and  adds, 
"The  promise  is  unto  you,  and  to  your  children,  and  to  all 
that  are  afar  off,  as  many  as  the  Lord  our  God  shall  call." 
The  promise  was  to  them  first ;  they,  therefore,  might  well 
expect  to  be  among  the  earliest  sharers  in  its  most  august 
fulfillment. — Comp.  Joel,  ii.,  28-32,  with  Acts,  ii.,  17-21, 
and  39. 

This  prophecy  by  Joel  was  unquestionably,  in  its  mam 
features,  a  prediction  of  the  extraordinary  gifts  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  as  actually  shed  upon  the  Church  at  this  Pentecostal 
season  ;  for  it  is  so  quoted  and  applied  by  the  inspired 
apostle  himself.  It  may,  indeed,  be  urged  that  it  predicted 
the  ordinary  as  well  as  the  extraordinary  influences  of  the 
Spirit ;  that  it  is  a  special  promise  to  the  Christian  Church 
of  the  abiding  influences  of  the  Spirit  in  measures  before 
unknown ;  that  it  is,  in  fact,  the  charter  by  which  this 
Church  now  holds  her  permanent  endowment,  in  all  its  full- 
ness and  richness,  of  the  never-departing  presence  of  the 
Illuminator,  Sanctifier,  and  Comforter.  And  this  view  I 
am  by  no  means  disposed  to  controvert.  What  I  contend 
for  is  this :  that  the  ordinary  influences  which  it  promises 
were  actually  shed  on  those  whom  Peter  was  addressing, 
before  they  were  baptized.  Without  those  previous  ordinary 
influences,  they  could  not  have  had,  what  we  are  sure  they 


120  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

felt,  in  order  to  their  baptism,  "  repentance  toward  God,  and 
faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;"  and,  therefore,  the 
additional  "  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  which  Peter  assured 
them  should,  on  that  occasion,  folloiv  their  baptism,  may 
well  be  understood  of  those  miraculous  endowments  which 
also  Joel  predicted,  and  for  which  that  Pentecost  was  so 
memorable.  The  ordinary  grace,  as  we  see,  was  not,  either 
by  the  prophecy,  or  by  its  fulfillment,  tied  to  baptism  as  its 
effect ;  for  it  unquestionably  preceded  that  ordinance.  The 
extraordinary  gift  was,  on  this  occasion,  promised  by  the 
apostle  as  a  bestowment,  which  should  yo//oi«,  though  even 
this  was  not  promised  to  follow  as  the  effect  of,  baptism. 

Thus,  by  looking  carefully  at  this  passage,  we  see  that  it 
yields  no  support  to  the  theory  which  teaches  that  the  or- 
dinary gift  of  the  Spirit,  and  the  consequent  in-residence  of 
God  with  his  children  as  their  common  privilege,  are  com- 
municated in  baptism.  Here,  unquestionably,  they  were 
communicated  before  baptism. 

(b.)  The  latter  of  the  two  passages  to  which  I  have  re- 
ferred is  a  part  of  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  ;  and 
what  I  have  just  said  will  help  us  to  its  true  sense. 

After  having  spoken  of  the  Law,  as  "  our  schoolmaster 
to  bring  us  to  Christ,  that  we  might  be  justified  by  faith," 
by  the  operation  of  which  law,  and  its  accompanying  influ- 
ences, those  whom  he  addressed  had  become  "  the  children 
of  God  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,"  he  adds,  "  As  many  of 
you  as  have  been  baptized  into  Christ,  have  put  on  Christ.^* 
— Gal.,  iii.,  24-27.  The  meaning  of  this  whole  passage 
is  plainly  this.  The  law  having  been,  of  course  through 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  and  the  accompanying  influ- 
ences of  the  Spirit,  the  means  of  bringing  the  Galatians  to 
Christ  for  justification  by  faith,  they  had,  in  this  faith,  been 
baptized  into  Christ,  or  into  his  name.  More  fully  ex- 
pressed, they  had  been  baptized  into  the  one  great  name, 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost ;  or  with  a  profession  of  true 


THE    NATURE   OF    BAPTISM.  121 

faith  in  the  Trinity  ;  and  the  result  of  their  ^remoMs  blessed 
change  had  been,  that  they  had  become,  as  the  apostle  styles 
them,  "  the  children  of  God  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ."     As 
the  result  of  that  change,  a  change  professed  and  sealed  at 
their  baptism,  they  had  "put  on  Christy"  or,  as  the  same 
apostle  expresses  the  idea  in  another  epistle,  they  had  be- 
come "  conformed  to  the  image"  of  Christ. — Rom.,  viii.,  29. 
The  advocates  of  baptismal  regeneration,  as  that  term  is 
here  understood,  argue   from  this   passage,  that  the  Gala- 
tians  had  "  put  on  Christ"  by  a  literal  incorporation  of  His 
incarnate  nature  with  their  own,  effected  by  the  Spirit  and 
the  water  at  and  in  baptism.     But  taking,  as  we  have  done, 
the  whole  passage  in  its   connection,  it  not  only  gives  no 
support  to  this  strange  dogma,  but  furnishes  no  proof  of  any 
spiritual  change  effected  at  and  in  baptism  as  its  instrument. 
*'  Putting  on  Christ"  means,  being  made  like  Christ ;  having 
the  same  "  mind  which  was  also  in  Him"  (Phil.,  ii.,  5) ;  be- 
ing "  conformed  to  His  image  f  made  "  children  of  God  hy 
faith  in  Him ;"  and  this  was  effected  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
using  tlie  law  and  its  accompanying  injluences  in  bringing  the 
Galatians   to  Christ  for  justification  by  faith,  and  in  thus 
making  them  God's  believing  children.    "  As  many  of  you" 
says  the  apostle,  "  as  have  been  baptized  into  Christ,  have 
fut  on  Christ."     As  a  general  thing,  those  of  them  who  had 
been  brought  to  baptism,  were  thus  brought  because  they 
had  previously  been  truly  converted  and  conformed  to  their 
Savior.     In  some  things  they  might  have  been  backsliders 
from  their  original  soundness  and  constancy  in  the  faith ; 
but,  on  the  whole,  they  were  true  Christians.     Such  was 
the  power  of  persecution  and  opposition  at  that  time  raging 
against  Christ,  that  few  indeed  could  be  brought  to  confess 
their  faith  in  Him,  unless  they  had  been  previously  and 
thoroughly  penetrated  with  the  power  of  His  Gospel,  and, 
in  strongly  encouraging  measures,  conformed  to  his  image. 
This,  evidently,  is  the  full  meaning  of  the  passage ;  and  it 

L 


122  THE    NATUKE    OF    BAPTISiVf, 

is  a  weighty  and  a  precious  meaning :  it  comes  np  fully  tc 
the  dignity  of  the  connected  discourse  :  it  has  in  it  no  frigid- 
ness,  but  is  warm  with  all  the  vital  meaning  of  the  Gospel. 

If,  then,  these  passages,  which  at  first  sight  seem  to  con- 
nect the  gift  of  the  Spirit,  and  the  consequent  indwelling 
of  God,  with  baptism,  do,  on  closer  examination,  virtually 
disprove  such  connection,  much  more  strongly  must  all  the 
other  passages,  which  I  have  cited,  tend  the  same  way  ; 
for  they  carry  not  the  remotest  allusion  to  baptism. 

(2.)  In  the  next  place,  to  the  inquiry.  What  is  the  true 
meaning  of  those  passages  ?  I  reply  that,  be  it  what  it 
may,  not  only  the  passages  just  examined,  but  tJie  main 
teaching  of  the  New  Testament,  show  that  the  ordinary  grace 
of  the  Spirit,  that  which  quickens  the  dead  in  trespasses 
and  sins,  brings  them  to  repentance  and  faith  in  Christ,  and 
fills  them  with  the  indwelling  of  God,  is  uniformly  exerted 
hefore  baptism. 

This,  I  apprehend,  was  conclusively  shown  in  a  previous 
chapter.*  We  there  saw  that  the  uniform  order,  in  the 
work  of  the  ministry  and  its  fruits,  was,  1.  Preaching  the 
Gospel ;  2.  Conversion  to  Christ  by  repentance  and  faith ; 
3.  Baptism.  Tliis  last,  we  know,  was  not  administered  to 
adults  but  on  evidence,  or  profession  o^  foregoing  repent- 
ance and  faith  ;  and  these  graces,  these  spiritual  passages 
in  the  inner  life  of  the  soul,  constitute  the  elements  of  our 
great  change  from  sin  to  holiness.  Unless,  therefore,  one 
be  bold  enough  to  say  that  this  change  may  be  wrought 
without  the  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  he  must  admit  that 
this  agency  and  its  result  prexecled  baptism. 

In  one  instance,  we  find  that  both  the  ordinary  and  the 
extraordinary  gifts  of  the  Spirit  preceded  baptism.  It  was 
that  of  Peter's  preaching  in  the  house  of  Cornelius.  "  While 
Peter  yet  spake  these  words,"  says  the  inspired  historian, 

*  Chapter  ii.,  on  Preaching,  p,  34,  35, 


THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM.  123 

"the  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  all  them  which  heard  the  Word." 
— Acts,  X.,  44.  In  this  gift  we  know  were  included  both 
the  ordinary  and  the  extraordinary :  the  ordinary,  because 
its  recipients  were  straightway  baptized ;  which  could 
not  have  been  but  on  evidence  of  that  repentance  and  faith 
which  come  through  the  influences  of  the  Spirit :  the  extra- 
ordinary, because,  before  their  baptism,  they  "  were  heard  to 
speak  with  tongues,"  or  in  languages  taught  by  immediate 
inspiration,  as  at  the  Pentecost. 

In  two  other  instances,  we  find  that  the  ordinary  and  silent, 
the  quickening  and  renewing  grace  of  the  Spirit,  preceded 
baptism :  while  his  extraordinary  and  sensible,  his  special 
and  miraculous  gihs,  followed  that  ordinance. 

(a.)  The  one  of  these  instances  occurs  in  the  account  of 
Philip's  ministry  at  Samaria.  The  Holy  Spirit  having frst, 
by  his  quickening  grace,  blessed  the  preaching  of  the  evan- 
gelist  in  the  conversion  of  the  Samaritans  to  the  true  faith, 
they  were  then  baptized.  Here  was  the  ordinary  gift  before 
baptism.  After  their  baptism,  two  of  the  apostles  went 
down  and  "  laid  their  hands  on  them,  and  they  received  the 
Holy  Ghost."  That  this  was  the  extraordinary  gift,  we 
know,  because  Simon  Magus,  "  seeing  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
was  given,  offered  money,"  in  the  impious  hope  of  purchas- 
ing the  power  to  convey  so  splendid  a  "  gift  of  God,"  and 
of  thereby  winning  for  himself  higher  fortune  or  fame  than 
he  had  yet  acquired  by  his  sorceries. — Acts,  viii.,  4-20. 

(J.)  The  other  of  these  instances  occurs  in  the  account  of 
Paul's  preaching  at  Ephesus,  when  he  had  passed  thither 
"through  the  upper  coasts."  He  found  there  "about 
twelve"  believing  disciples,  and  said,  "  Have  ye  received 
the  Holy  Ghost  since  ye  believed  ?"*  Their  reply,  as  we 
have  it  translated,  was,  "  We  have  not  so  much  as  heard 
whether  there  be  any  Holy  Ghost."     They  had  only  been 

*  Literally  translated,  "  Did  ye  receive  the  Holy  Ghost,  having  be- 
.ieved?" 


124  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

baptized  by  the  herald,  John.  Being  now,  therefore,  "  bap- 
tized in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,"  "  Paul  laid  his  hands 
on  them  ;  and  the  Holy  Ghost  came  on  them,  and  they 
spake  with  tongues  and  prophesied."  —  Acts,  xix.,  1-7. 
Here  the  extraordinary  gift  was  bestowed  after  baptism,  as 
the  ordinary  grace  had  evidently  been  before.  I  say  evi- 
dently, because,  though  hitherto  unbaptized  in  the  name  of 
Christ,  they  were  yet  believing  disciples  (Acts,  xix.,  2) ; 
and  their  faith  was  "  the  gift  of  God"  by  the  Spirit. — Eph., 
ii.,  8. 

What,  then,  some  may  ask  in  surprise,  what  is  meant  by 
their  own  declaration,  "  We  have  not  so  much  as  heard 
whether  there  be  any  Holy  Ghost?"  Let  us  endeavor  to 
ascertain. 

Their  history,  as  connected  with  this  transaction,  seems 
to  have  been  briefly  this.  Soon  after  receiving  from  John 
that  baptism,  which  we  find  required  repentance  and  faith 
in  Jesus  as  then  at  hand,  they  had  retired  from  Jerusa- 
lem to  Ephesus,  that  distant  corner  of  the  Lesser  Asia ; 
probably  in  pursuit  of  the  objects  of  their  calling :  and 
there,  remote,  secluded,  and  engrossed  by  their  toils,  had 
never,  till  this  meeting  with  the  apostle,  heard  whether  the 
Holy  Ghost,  in  his  promised  wonderful  eff'usion,  had  yet 
come  upon  the  Church. 

That  this  is  the  true  import  of  their  language,  we  shall, 
I  think,  be  satisfied  on  closer  inspection.  It  can  not,  then, 
by  any  but  a  superficial  reader,  be  supposed  that  they,  who 
had  been  baptized  by  John,  the  inspired  herald  of  Christ, 
had  literally  never  heard  of  the  existence  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  What,  persons  who  were  themselves  Jews,  who 
were  doubtless  acquainted  with  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old 
Testament,  in  all  their  promises  both  of  the  Messiah  and  of 
the  Spirit,  and  yet  actually  ignorant  of  the  existence  of  that 
Spirit  1  Was  not  their  great  master,  who  taught,  as  well  as 
baptized  them,  himself  a  partaker  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  his 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  125 

fullness  both  of  ordinary  and  of  extraordinary  gifts  ?  And 
being  so,  would  he  tell  his  pupils  nothing  of  his  Divine  in- 
spirer  ?  Was  he  not  wont,  as  Jesus  passed  by,  at  the 
opening  of  his  ministry,  not  only  to  point  to  him  with  this 
very  finger  of  the  Gospel :  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  that 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world"  (John,  i.,  29) ;  but  also 
to  say  to  his  disciples,  "  I  indeed  baptize  you  with  water 
unto  repentance  ;  but  he  shall  baptize  you  with  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  with  fire  ?"  Is  not  this  language  of  John  an  ad- 
mitted prophecy  of  the  Pentecostal  wonder ;  and  did  it  not 
probably  lead  his  disciples  to  look  out  for  what  then  hap- 
pened ?  Is  not  this  specimen  of  John's  teaching  the  founda- 
tion of  what  Paul  said  to  these  very  disciples  at  Ephesus : 
"  John  verily  baptized  with  the  baptism  of  repentance,"  or 
unto  repentance  ;  "  saying  unto  the  people  that  they  should 
believe  on  Him,  who  should  come  after  him,  that  is,  on 
Christ  Jesus  1" — Acts,  xix.,  4.  And  is  it  possible,  after 
this  view  of  John's  manner  of  teaching,  to  suppose  that 
these  disciples,  even  though  far  and  long  removed  from 
Jerusalem,  had  literally  never  before  heard  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  ?  No.  Nor  do  their  words,  rightly  rendered,  im- 
port any  such  thing.  They  are  similar  in  meaning  to  the 
words  of  the  other  John  in  his  Gospel,  when  interpreting 
the  language  of  his  Savior  about  "  Rivers  of  living  Water." 
"  This  spake  he  of  the  Spirit,  which  they  that  believe  on 
him  should  receive :  for  the  Holy  Ghost  was  not  yet 
given ;  because  that  Jesus  was  not  yet  glorified." — John, 
vii.,  39.  In  this  passage,  as  it  stands  in  our  translation, 
the  word  "given"  is  an  addition.  It  is  not  in  the  original. 
The  expression  is,  "  The  Holy  Ghost  was  not  yet."  Nor 
are  the  two  passages  similar  in  meaning  only ;  but,  so  far 
as  the  point  of  comparison  goes,  in  phraseology  also.  With 
the  simple  difference  between  past  and  present  time,  the 
main  words  are  the  same.  Literally  rendered,  the  phrase 
L2 


12Q  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

in  the  Gospel  is,  "  for  not  yet  the  Holy  Ghost  was  ;"*  while 
that  in  the  passage  before  us  stands  in  the  original  thus  : 
"  Whether  the  Holy  Ghost  zs."t  And  the  true  force  of  the 
passages  is  this.  In  his  Gospel,  the  Evangelist  says,  "  As 
yet,  the  Holy  Ghost  was  not;"  historically  interpreted, 
"  was  not  yet  given ;"  not  yet  Pentecostally  poured  forth 
on  the  Church.  In  the  dialogue  at  Ephesus,  the  disciples 
say,  "  We  have  not  heard  whether  the  Holy  Ghost  is ;"  in 
like  manner  interpreted,  "  We  have  not  heard  whether  He 
has  yet  been  shed  forth  in  his  promised  gifts  of  power." 

It  is  not  true,  therefore,  that  these  disciples  knew  not  of 
the  existence  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  They  were,  however 
imperfectly,  still  really  the  subjects  of  his  renewing  grace. 
He  had  made  them,  under  the  Baptist's  teaching,  believing 
disciples,  with  that  repentance  and  faith  in  Christ  which, 
as  we  have  seen,  their  Master  taught.  But,  ever  since  they 
left  his  early  ministry,  they  had  been  far  away  at  Ephesus  ; 
and  so,  had  never  enjoyed  an  opportunity  of  being  baptized 
in  the  name  of  Christ,  nor  even  heard  of  the  glorious  efiu- 
sion  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  had  taken  place  at  the  Pen- 
tecost ;  much  less,  been  sharers  in  its  wonders.  It  was 
not  John,  who  first  baptized  them,  but  Jesus,  in  whose  name 
they  were  now  baptized,  that  gave  forth  the  marvels  of  that 
awful  day :  not  their  first,  therefore,  but  their  second  bap- 
tism, which  was  immediately  followed  by  their  being  made 
sharers  in  its  rich  and  special  gifts.  Such  is  evidently  the 
true  force  of  the  passage  ;  and  thus  understood,  it  is  one  of 
those  which  show  that,  at  first,  the  phrases,  "  Gift  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  "  The  Holy  Ghost  came,"  "  The  Holy  Ghost 
fell,"  &c.,  were  used  to  designate  his  strictly  extraordinary 
endowments,  in  miracle  and  in  inspiration. 

With  the  extraordinary  gift  of  the  Spirit,  however,  my 
argument,  as  I  have  already  remarked,  has  no  concern.     It 

*  Ovnu>  yaf)  rjv  jrvcvfia  aytov. — John,  vii.,  39. 
+  olie  d  nv&ita  ayi6v  eanv. — Acts,  xix.,  8. 


THE  NATURE  OP  BAPTISM.  127 

is  busied  wholly  with  his  ordinary  grace  ;  that  by  which 
He  renews  and  sanctifies  the  sinful  soul,  and  makes  it  a 
partaker  of  the  indwelling  of  God,  as  the  common  privilege 
of  his  children.  This,  as  we  have  seen,  in  one  of  the  re- 
marks which  I  have  offered,  is,  by  none  of  the  strong  pas- 
sages first  cited,  connected  with  baptism  ;  v/hile,  as  we 
have  seen  in  the  other  of  those  remarks,  numerous  equally 
strong  passages  either  impliedly  or  expressly  disconnect  it 
from  baptism.  The  urgent  inference,  thus  far,  would  be, 
that,  with  the  Bible  as  our  authority,  we  have  no  reason  for 
saying  or  supposing  that  it  is  ever  connected  with  baptism. 

4.  Having  thus  disconnected  this  whole  class  of  passages 
from  baptism,  or,  rather,  shown  that  they  have  no  sucli  con- 
nection as  is  claimed,  let  us  now  proceed  to  a  point  not  yet 
touched,  the  true  meaning  of  the  Scriptures  quoted. 

(1.)  They  all  speak,  then,  of  the  simple  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  without  saying  any  thing  of  the  mode,  or  means,  by 
which  this  gift  is  bestowed.  To  illustrate  this  point,  there- 
fore, I  refer  to  another  class  of  texts,  which  give  a  view  of 
this  mode  or  means.  I  regard  this  as  a  legitimate  resort 4 
for  even  indirect  statements  of  doctrine,  explanatory  of  oth- 
ers, may  be  as  valuable  for  proof  as  the  direct  ones  which 
they  explain. 

(a.)  The  Apostle  Paul,  then,  speaks  of  "  the  new  man"  as 
being  "  renewed  in  knoioledge  after  the  image  of  Him  that 
created  him." — Col.,  iii.,  10.  Here,  the  new  man,  or  the  soul 
restored  to  the  image  of  God,  is  the  result;  renewal,  the 
process  ;  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  implied  agent ;  and  knowledge, 
the  means  employed  in  the  Divine  work  before  us.  It  is 
true,  the  expression  "  in  knowledge"  might  be  rendered 
"  unto  knowledge,"  making  this  one  of  the  results  of  re- 
newal.  But  it  is  also  true  that  it  may,  with  strict  propriet)'-, 
be  rendered  "  hy  knowledge,"  making  it  the  vieans  ;  and 
this  rendering  is  confirmed  by  what  the  same  apostle  says 
elsewhere^  ''  In  Christ  Jesus^  I  have  begotten  you  through 


128  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

the  Gospel." — 1  Cor.,  iv.,  15.  Here  are  summarily  involved 
the  very  same  things  :  the  new  man ;  his  renewal,  or  new 
birth  ;  the  implied  agency  of  the  Spirit  ;  and  the  instrument- 
ality of  knoxvledge,  called,  in  this  place,  "  the  Gospel"  This, 
then,  unfolds  the  whole  work  before  us.  The  gift  of  the 
Spirit,  which  results  in  that  "  new  man"  wherein  dwelletk 
God,  whether  as  the  Father,  or  as  Christ,  or  as  the  Holy 
Ghost,  is  communicated  through,  or  by,  the  Gospel,  by  means 
of  knowledge  or  of  Divine  Truth,  On  this  point  there  can, 
it  seems  to  me,  be  no  possible  doubt.  The  very  new  man, 
or  new  life,  claimed  as  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  in  baptism  alone, 
is  the  result  of  his  influences  through  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel,  or  some  equivalent  inculcation  of  Divine  Truth. 

(&.)  Even  the  Old  Testament  prophets  took  this  view. 
Says  Jeremiah,  speaking  of  the  "^new  Covenant,"  or  gracious 
relation  between  God  and  his  people,  and  uttering  the  very 
words  of  God,  "  I  will  put  my  law  in  their  inward  parts, 
and  write  it  in  their  hearts ;  and  will  be  their  God,  and 
they  shall  be  my  people." — Jer.,  xxxi.,  33.  This  relation 
between  God  and  his  people  is  identical  with  his  dwelling  in 
them.,  as  the  gift  of  his  Spirit,  and  He  produces  this  rela- 
tion by  putting  his  law  in  their  inward  parts,  and  by  writing 
it  in  their  hearts.  The  law  here  evidently  means  a  knowl- 
edge of  God  and  his  will.  The  writing  it  in  their  hearts  is 
the  work  of  the  Spirit,  giving  inward  effect  to  the  truth: 
and  the  resulting  relation  between  God  and  his  people  is 
all  they  need  or  can  have  of  Him,  save  the  sacred  peace, 
the  holy  delight,  the  Divine  communings  which  fblkjw  on 
that  relation. 

(c.)  A  part  of  this  subject,  the  process  and  agent  of  our 
renewal,  is  strikingly  exhibited  by  the  apostle  to  the  Corin- 
thians :  "  We  all,  with  open  face  beholding  as  in  a  glass  the 
glory  of  the  Lord,  are  changed  into  the  same  image  from 
glory  to  glory,  as  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord." — 2  Cor.,  iii.> 
18.     What  is  "  the  glory  of  the  Lord,"  here  said  to  be  mir- 


THE  NATURE  OP  BAPTISM.  129 

rored  to  our  "  open  face"  or  unveiled  minds  1  If  we  look 
back  upon  the  apostle's  discourse,  we  find  it  to  be  his  re- 
vealed glory,  or  the  glory  of  his  character,  purposes,  and 
works  of  grace,  as  made  known  in  the  Bible.  The  Jews, 
when  Moses  and  the  Old  Testament  were  read,  saw  not 
this  glory.  "  Their  minds  were  blinded."  There  was  "  a 
veil  upon  their  heart."  This  veil  consisted  partly  in  their 
own  prejudices,  and  partly  in  the  typical,  shadowy  charac- 
ter of  their  law  and  dispensation.  But  "  in  Christ  this  veil 
is  done  away."  By  his  coming,  light  is  poured  on  the  page 
of  Revelation,  and  the  perversions  of  Jewish  prejudice  are 
swept  away.  Now,  therefore,  we  can  look  upon  the  mirror 
of  the  Word  "  with  open  face,"  that  is,  without  a  veil ;  and, 
beholding  there  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  we  are  changed  into 
the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  by  the  quickening  and 
enlightening  power  of  his  Spirit.  Here  we  have  the  full 
gift  of  the  Spirit,  changing  our  sinful  natures  into  the  renew- 
ed image  of  God  through  that  Word  of  truth,  in  which  He 
has  mirrored  his  best  glories  to  our  view ;  especially  that 
*'  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of 
Jesus  Christ,"  whereby  He  "  shines  in  our  hearts,"  and 
makes  us  truly  "  light  in  the  Lord." — 2  Cor.,  iv.,  6. 

(d.)  Again  :  by  one  of  the  most  persuasive  arguments  ever 
urged,  our  blessed  Savior  teaches  us  that  the  gift  of  the 
Spirit  is  to  be  sought  and  obtained  in  prayer.  "  If  ye,  then, 
being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your  children, 
how  much  more  shall  your  heavenly  Father  give  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  them  that  ask  him  V — Luke,  xi.,  13.  But  prayer 
for  the  Spirit  implies  a  knowledge  of  God,  and  of  his  way 
of  salvation  ;  in  opening  which,  and  leading  us  along  it,  the 
Spirit  is  concerned.  Prayer  for  the  Spirit  is  the  sighing  of 
a  heart  that  is  feeling  after  a  God  revealed ;  not  the  asking 
of  a  mind  that  gropes  for  a  God  unknown.  And  though  this 
prayer  generally  goes  up  from  hearts  that  are  already  re- 
newed, and  "  the  sacrifice  of  the  wicked  is  an  abomination 


130  THE    NATURE    OF   BAPTISM. 

to  the  Lord,"  yet,  doubtless,  when  God,  by  his  Word  and 
providence,  has  set  the  heart  of  one  before  unchanged  long- 
ing for  himself,  the  utterance  of  its  longings  will  draw  down 
the  unspeakable  gift  of  the  Spirit  in  its  fullness,  even  though 
no  other  outward  rite  be  witness  to  ilie  prayer,  and  it  be  ut- 
tered alone  amid  the  silence  of  the  soul. 

(c.)  Farther :  our  Savior  teaches  that  "  manifesling  him- 
self" to  the  Christian,  and  dwelling  with  him,  are  identical 
in  meaning ;  and  that  this  high  favor  is  vouchsafed  to  the 
heart  oilove — to  him  that  knows  and  obeys  the  truth.  "  Lord, 
how  is  it  that  thou  wilt  iiianifest  thyself  unXo  us,  and  not  unto 
the  world  ?  Jesus  answered,  '  If  a  man  love  me,  he  will 
keep  my  words,  and  my  Father  will  love  him,  and  we  will 
come  unto  him,  and  make  our  abode  with  him.'  " — John, 
xiv.,  22,  23.  Here  is  an  inquiry  into  the  mode  of  the  Di- 
vine manifestation,  or  indwelling  ;  and  the  answer  to  the 
querist's  "  HOW  ?"  is,  "  by  mutual  love  between  the  Christ- 
ian and  God,  leading  to  a  keeping  of  the  words  of  Christ,  or 
obedience  to  his  truth."  He  who  thus  keeps  his  Savior's 
words  because  he  loves  him,  shall  know  that  he  in  turn  is 
loved  of  the  Father  ;  while,  in  the  secret  of  this  mutual  love, 
and  in  the  path  of  this  intelligent  obedience,  he  shall  realize 
that  both  the  Father  and  the  Son  are  with  him  of  a  truth, 
dwelling  in  him,  and  manifesting  themselves  to  him  as  they 
do  not  to  the  world.  This  passage  not  only  explains  the 
mode  of  the  Divine  manifestation,  but  still  farther  intimates 
in  what  this  manifestation  itself  consists  :  in  mutual  love, 
and  the  evidence  which  this  love  and  its  fruits  do  furnish  of 
that  gracious  and  happy  relation  which  subsists  between  the 
true  Christian  and  God  ;  a  relation  which  is  sealed  in  Christ, 
and  witnessed  by  the  Spirit,  wherever  the  heart,  in  the  ex- 
ercise of  true  repentance  and  living  faith,  yields  itself  to 
God,  though  it  be  but  in  its  first  secret  consentings  to  His 
blessed  covenant  of  life.  And  this  inward  sealing  and  wit- 
nessing would  doubtless  stand  good  forever,  though  its  sub- 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  131 

ject  were  never  to  enjoy  the  desired  opportunity  of  publicly 
imbodijing  that  covenant  in  the  appropriate  solemnities  of 
the  Church. 

{f.)  And,  once  more :  the  great  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles 
spreads  out  this  whole  subject  into  still  more  ample  expres- 
sion. "  For  this  cause  I  bow  my  knees  unto  the  Father  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  of  whom  the  whole  family  in  heav- 
en and  earth  is  named,  that  He  would  grant  you,  according 
to  the  riches  of  his  glory,  to  be  strengthened  with  might  by 
His  Spirit  in  the  inner  man ;  that  Christ  may  dwell  in  your 
hearts  hy  faith  ;  that  ye,  being  rooted  and  grounded  m  love, 
may  be  able  to  comprehend,  with  all  saints,  what  is  the 
breadth,  and  length,  and  depth,  and  height ;  and  to  know 
the  love  of  Christ,  which  passeth  knowledge  ;  that  ye  might 
he  filled  with  all  the  fullness  of  God." — Eph.,  iii.,  14-19. 

This  passage  gathers  all  the  particulars  of  our  subject 
into  a  single  sentence.  Here  is  the  great  "  gift  of  the 
Spirit,"  in  all  its  depth  and  power,  working  "  according  to 
the  riches  of  God's  glory  in  the  inner  man ;"  here,  too,  is 
"  Christ,  dwelling  in  the  Christian's  heart;"  here,  in  short, 
is  the  Christian  ^'filled  with  all  the  fullness  of  God:"  and 
all  this,  in  less  or  greater  measure,  the  common  privilege  of 
"  a// the  saints" — of"  the  whole  family  in  heaven  and  earth" 
— of  all  the  children  of  God  who  have  gone  from  the  olden 
dispensation,*  as  well  as  of  those  who  are  gathering  thither 

■*  Mr.  Newman  contends  that  there  is  a  great  difference  between  the  Old 
and  the  New  Testament  saints  in  regard  to  what  is  conveyed  in  this  gift  of 
the  Spirit :  that  the  latter  have  it,  but  the  former  had  it  not.  "  Whatever 
they  were,"  he  writes,  "however  high  in  God's  favor,  however  influenced 
by  God's  secret  aids,  they  could  not  be  partakers  of  that  which  did  not  as 
yet  exist,  the  body  and  blood  of  the  Incarnate  Son."  They  had  a  sort  of 
piety,  he  allows,  "  the  fruit,  too,  of  Divine  assistance."  Still,  it  was  "  but 
the  poor  effort  after  that  righteousness  which  it  never  could  really  reach, 
and  which  He  (Christ)  is.  Its  services"  "did  not  tend  to  the  perfection, 
which  they  testified. "^ — "  They  could  not  rise  out  of  their  feeble  selves,  and 
claim  to  be  His  works,  not  man's." 

He  puts  a  corresponding  difference  between  Jewish  and  Christian  sacra- 


1 32  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

from  the  new.  This,  then,  is  not  the  extraordinary  gift  of 
which  I  have  spoken.  It  is,  questionless,  the  ordinary 
grace ;  the  common  heritage  of  all  God's  faithful  people. 
It  is,  therefore,  in  the  strictest  sense,  pertinent  to  the  sub- 
ject of  oar  inquiry. 

Does  this  passage,  then,  say  aught  of  the  means  by  which 
this  gift  is  obtained,  or  of  the  medium  through  which  it  is 
received,  or  of  the  exercises  in  which  it  is  realized  and  en- 
joyed 1  Certainly  it  does.  And  what,  does  it  say  1  That 
the  gift  is  a  supernatural  investment,  of  and  from  God,  over 
and  above  nature  ?  That  it  is  neither  renovation  nor  any 
of  its  fruits,  but  a  mysterious  endowment  distinct  from  them, 
superior  to  them,  and  inclusive  of  them  all  ?  And  that  it  is 
miraculously  communicated  in  baptism,  and  as  miraculously 
increased  in  the  Eucharist  ?  Not  a  word  of  all  this,  or  of 
aught  cognate  with  it  in  theology.  It  speaks,  indeed,  of 
the  imvard  strengthenings  of  the  Spirit,  of  the  indwelling  of 
Christ,  and  of  the  accompanying  fullness  of  the  Father. 
But,  then,  this  great  gift  is,  in  the  first  place,  sought  in  an- 
swer to  prayer ;  it  is  received,  when  it  comes,  by  faith  ; 
and  it  is  enjoyed,  when  realized,  by  that  holy  love  which 
delights  to  comprehend  what  it  may  of  the  breadth,  and 
length,  and  depth,  and  height  of  that  love  wherewith  Christ 
hath  loved  us  ;  however,  at  present,  this  love  may  overpass 
our  power  of  knowledge.  In  all  this,  too,  we  have  simply 
the  "  new  man"  changed  into  the  recovered  image  of  God, 
and  putting  forth  his  renovated  powers  in  faith,  comprehen- 
sion, knowledge,  and  love,  in  the  pleasing  effort  to  realize 
the  manifested  love,  and  presence,  and  in  working  of  God, 

ments.  "The  Church,  before  His  coming,  offered  to  him  material  elements, 
'  which  perish  in  the  using,'  but  now  He  has  sent  His  Spirit,  to  fill  them 
with  himself,  and  to  make  them  living  and  availing  sacrifices  to  the  Father,'' 
&C. — Newman  on  Justification,  p.  225-6. 

And  if  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  consisted  in  such  imparlations  as  tliose  in 
which  he  believes,  he  is  right  in  his  theology  on  this  point ;  but  if  not,  he 
is  perniciously  wrong. 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  133 

his  Father,  his  Savior,  and  his  Sanctifier.  It  is  simply  ren- 
ovation and  its  fruits ;  God,  in  all  his  persons  and  perfec- 
tions, dwelling  in  the  heart  hy  faith  ;  faith  proving  itself 
"  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  and  the  evidence  of  things 
not  seen  ;"  faith  bringing  into  manifestation  before  the  mind 
the  Spirit,  and  all  the  bright,  but  viewless  realities  of  the 
spiritual  world. 

All  this  high  gift  of  the  Spirit  may  doubtless  be  enjoyed 
most  richly  in  the  services  of  God's  house,  especially  in  that 
sacred  act,  in  which  Christians  commune  and  covenant  to- 
gether with  their  bodily  absent  though  spiritually  present 
Savior,  over  the  consecrated  symbols  of  his  body  and  blood, 
his  death  and  passion  ;  but,  then,  it  is  a  gift  which  may 
come  before  any  outward  sacrament,  and  which  may  abide 
with  the  Christian  strengtheningly  and  satisfyingly,  though 
all  outward  rites  be  denied  him. 

(2.)  This  course  of  illustration  from  particular  texts  might 
be  carried  farther,  but  such  farther  illustration  can  hardly 
be  necessary.  I  pass,  therefore,  to  the  last  step  in  this 
somewhat  prolonged  examination.  What  is  this  gift  itself 
of  the  Spirit  ?  What  is  this  indwelling  of  God,  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  hearts  of  his  people  ?  Is  it,  as  is 
claimed,  an  actual  inipartation  from  and  of  God,  the  actual, 
spriritual  substance,  the  very  Divine  nature  itself,  especial- 
ly of  the  incarnate  Son,  miraculously  communicated  and 
mysteriously  lodged  within  us,  yet  no  part  of  us ;  commin- 
gled with  our  nature,  shining  from  and  around  the  heart,  and 
tending  to  absorb  the  human  into  the  Divine  ?  Evidently, 
nothing  is  farther  than  this  from  the  teaching  of  the  Word 
of  God,  even  in  these,  the  strongest  of  its  expressions, 
which  I  have  quoted,  and  to  prepare  for  the  true  sense  of 
which  I  have  passed  through  so  long  a  course  of  remark. 
This  true  sense  has  already  been  partially  unfolded  in  what 
has  been  said.  But,  to  give  it  fuller  statement,  the  gift  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  in  his  ordinary  grace,  and  the  consequen* 
M 


134  THE    NATURE    OP    BAPTISM, 

indwelling  of  God  in  the  soul,  plainly  include  and  consist, 
1.  In  the  renewing  work  of  the  Spirit,  wrought  upon  the 
heart,  or  upon  our  rational  and  moral  nature,  through  the 
truth  ;  and,  2.  In  that  sacred  and  happy  fellowship  which  en- 
sues between  the  renewed  man  and  that  God  who  has  so 
mightily  renewed  him.  This  renewing  work  involves  the 
solemn  enactment  of  the  covenant  of  grace  between  God 
and  the  soul ;  and  this  enactment  first  takes  place  amid 
those  withdrawn  scenes,  in  that  silence  and  secrecy  of  the 
thoughts,  where  the  Reconciler  and  the  reconciled  have 
their  first  meeting  of  peace.  No  eye  but  the  inner  one  of 
the  penitent  and  the  approving  one  of  the  Omniscient  looks 
upon  it,  or  knows  aught  of  it,  till  it  comes  out  in  the  light 
of  a  holy  life,  and  in  the  beneficence  of  godly  actions,  or 
till  it  is  brought  forth,  for  sealing  and  for  witnessing,  in  the 
face  of  the  Church,  and  under  the  seals  of  her  sacraments. 
And  then,  the  indwelling  of  God  which  follows,  is  but  the 
^^ fellowship"  of  the  renewed  soul  "  with  the  Father,  with 
his  Son  Jesus  Christ"  (1  John,  i.,  3),  and  with  "the  Holy 
Spirit"  (2  Cor.,  xiii.,  14)  ;  maintained  through yrt/Z/i,  enjoy- 
ed in  love,  and  perfected  with  the  growing  perfection  of  the 
Divine  likeness  within.  This  indwelling  is  the  direct  op- 
posite to  that  state  of  the  wicked  which  the  Psalmist  de- 
scribes when  he  says,  "  God  is  not  in  all  his  thoughts." — 
Ps.,  X.,  4.  God  is  in  all  the  thoughts  of  his  reneived  child, 
at  least,  so  far  as  the  lingering  conflict  with  sin  allows  him 
to  act  according  to  the  tendencies  of  his  renewed  mind.  In 
these  thoughts  he  delights  to  hold  converse  with  God,  espe- 
cially as  manifested  amid  the  wonders  of  his  redemption  in 
Christ  Jesus.  In  this  holy  and  blessed  fellowship,  h\s  faith 
lifts  its  eye,  and  realizes  the  presence  of  his  Redeemer,  Re- 
newer,  and  Sanctifier ;  his  love  opens  its  heart,  and  grasps 
all  that  it  can  of  the  incomprehensible  fullness  of  the  love 
of  Christ  for  him  ;  his  hope  goes  up  and  takes  in  all  of  the 
fullness  of  God  as  his  eternal  portion ;  his  thoughts  range 


THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM.  135 

through  the  vastness  of  their  theme,  and  bring  home  growing 
knowledge  of  the  infinitely  perfect  and  blessed  One ;  and 
thus,  under  the  teachings  of  the  Spirit  through  the  truth, 
and  most  rapidly  when  privileged  to  walk  in  the  way  of 
God's  own  appointments  in  his  Church,  his  whole  soul  be- 
comes more  and  more  full  of  God,  of  a  renewed  likeness  to 
Him,  of  blessed  thoughts  of  Him,  and  of  a  divine  enjoy- 
ment of  Him. 

In  the  phrase  of  the  quoted  texts  which  I  am  explaining, 
"The  high  and  lofty  One  dwells  with  him  who  is  of  a  con- 
trite and  humble  spirit ;"  and  the  end  of  his  dwelling  there 
is,  to  "  revive  the  spirit  of  the  humble,  and  to  revive  the 
heart  of  the  contrite  ones  ;"  by  his  sweet  influences,  the  low- 
ly to  exalt,  and  the  bruised  to  heal.  True  Christians  are 
his  "  Temples"  and  He  "  dwells  and  walks  in  them."  They 
have  worshiping  and  adoring  thoughts  of  Him,  and  keep  up 
in  their  hearts  sacrifices  of  prayer  and  praise,  which  render 
their  souls  titter  temples  to  Him  than  even  his  awful  palace 
in  the  Olden  Church.  And,  then,  his  "  exceeding  great 
and  precious  promises,"  received  by  faith,  make  them  "par- 
takers of  the  Divine  nature;"  not,  indeed,  of  the  substance 
of  God,  the  Divine  nature  itself,  but  of  "  a  Divine  nature,"* 
a  nature  like  God's,  the  Divine  "  image  and  likeness"  re- 
covered. 

Specially  doth  Christ  "  abide  in  them."  A  precious  Sav- 
ior, He  "  dwells  in  their  hearts  by  faith."  By  faith,  their 
hearts  sweetly  entertain  this  friend  and  brother  of  their 
souls.  By  faith,  they  "put  on  Christ"  with  all  the  fruits 
of  believing,  till  they  stand  "  conformed  to  his  image,"  dress- 
ed both  in  a  robe  of  righteousness,  which  He  has  externally 
■wrought  for  them,  and  in  a  garment  of  holiness,  which  they 
have  inwardly  caught  from  among  his  shining  graces.  He 
is,  moreover,  "  in  them,  the  hope  of  glory."  Their  inmost 
thoughts,  affections,  and  desires,  do  so  entertain  Him,  that 
*  eda;  <pvaeuii,  without  the  article. 


136  THE  NATURE   OP   BAPTISM. 

they  can  not  doubt  of  ultimately  sharing  with  Him  the  glory 
to  which  He  is  already  exalted.  And,  finally,  He  is  '■'■form- 
ed in  them"  in  the  beautiful  likeness  which  they  bear  to 
Him  ;  in  that  image  of  himself  ■within  them,  which  He  sees 
gradually  shaping  and  brightening  toward  perfection ;  and 
in  the  growth  of  which,  He  anticipates,  with  a  fullness  of 
divine  satisfaction,  the  time  when  they  will  be  "  presented 
faultless  before  the  presence  of  his  glory  with  exceeding 

joy." 

And,  lastly,  as  the  source  and  agent  of  all  these  glori- 
ous things,  they  have  "  received  the  Spirit"  which  Christ 
promised.  This  Divine  quickener,  clothing  himself  in  the 
light,  and  making  himself  the  power,  of  revealed  truth,  has 
renewed  their  souls,  made  them  "  new  creatures  in  Christ 
Jesus,"  and  brought  them  to  that  spiritual  mind  in  which 
such  inward  visions  of  God  are  possible,  and  such  satisfy- 
ing fellowship  with  the  Father  and  the  Son,  not  only  possi- 
ble, but  actual.  He  has  made  even  their  "  bodies  his  tem- 
ples ;"  their  thoughts  of  Him,  and  their  coinminiion  with  Him, 
bring  Him  within  the  very  walls  of  this  little  tabernacle, 
the  flesh,  by  putting  all  bodily  appetites,  affections,  and  fac- 
ulties under  his  sacred  control,  and  making  them  all  instru- 
ments in  his  heavenly  work.  In  short,  both  in  soul  and  in 
body,  they  know  what  it  is,  in  this  its  true  sense,  to  "  be 
filled  with  the  Spirit." 

Such,  in  the  sober  light  of  the  Scriptures,  are  that  gift  of 
the  Spirit,  and  that  indwelling  of  God  in  the  hearts  of  his 
people,  about  which  we  have  been  inquiring.  This,  in  its 
fullness,  is  all  that  we  need  to  make  us  holy ;  all  that  we 
need  to  make  us  happy  ;  all  that  ■we  can  have  to  make  us 
glorious. 

To  return,  then,  to  the  suggestion  which  has  given  rise 
to  what  has  been  said  in  this  chapter :  it  seems,  from  all 
the  texts  and  classes  of  texts  which  have  been  examined 
that,  whatever  may  be  meant  by  the  terras  principle,  seed,  or 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  137 

germ  of  the  new  life,  we  have  no  ground  for  supposing  that 
it  is  implanted  in  the  infant  at  his  baptism,  but,  rather,  that 
it  has,  both  as  to  time  and  as  to  instrument,  a  different  origin. 

One  reason  why  this  process  has  not  its  beginning  in 
baptism  is,  as  we  have  seen,  that,  as  the  gift  of  the  Spirit,  it 
begins  in  that  change  of  our  nature,  in  that  "  repentance  and 
faith,"  which  "  infants,  by  reason  of  their  tender  age,  can  not 
perform"  or  feel.  And  another  reason  which  may  be  as- 
signed is,  that  the  theory  which  lays  the  beginning  of  this 
work  in  baptism,  puts  the  Bible  out  of  its  true  place,  or 
tends  to  substitute,  for  its  great  office  in  the  hands  of  the 
Spirit,  an  unreal  efficiency  of  sacraments,  whose  inevitable 
fruits  are,  growing  error  in  doctrine,  and  growing  supersti- 
tion  in  practice.  If  the  new  life,  or  its  germ,  may  be  mi- 
raculously* communicated  by  one  sacrament  to  unconscious 
infancy,  it  may,  of  course,  be  miraculously  developed  by 
another  sacrament  in  even  unreflecting  7nanhood.  Thus,  the 
office  of  the  Scriptures  of  truth  is  practically  superseded. 
The  ministry  need  not  preach  those  Scriptures,  nor  need 
the  people  "  search"  them  ;  the  former  to  teach,  nor  the  latter 
to  learn,  how  "  they  testify  of  Christ."  The  work  of  both 
parties  is  mainly  summed  up  in  sacraments,  and  their  spiritual 
life  is  both  given  and  nourished  in  those  supposed  awfully 
efficient  mysteries.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  this  disuse  of 
the  Scriptures  and  of  preaching,  and  this  almost  solitary  ex- 
altation and  magnifying  of  the  sacraments,  are  facts  with 
which  the  history  of  the  Church  has  been  but  too  sadly  fa- 
miliar. 

How  discordant  is  the  system  which  engenders  and 
brings  forth  these  facts,  from  that  which  stands  out,  uncon- 
cealable,  on  the  pages  of  Inspiration  !  "  The  Word  of  God 
is  quick  and  powerful,  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword, 

*  The  writers  to  whom  I  have  referred  on  this  subject  repeatedly  speak 
ol  baptism  as  a  "  miracle"  and  of  both  the  sacraments  as  partaking  of  the 
tmraculous  in  their  effects. 

M2 


138  THE  NATURE  OP  BAPTISM. 

piercing  even  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,  and 
of  the  joints  and  marrow,  and  is  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts 
and  intents'of  the  heart." — Heb.,  iv.,  12.  "  The  law  of  the 
Lord  is  perfect,  converting  the  soul."  "  The  commandment 
of  the  Lord  is  pure,  enlighte^iing  the  eyes." — Ps.,  xix.,  7,  8. 
"  Open  thou  mine  eyes,  that  I  may  behold  wondrous  things 
out  oi  thy  Law." — Ps.,  cxix.,  18.  "  Sanctify  them  through 
thy  Truth :  thy  Word  is  Truth." — John,  xvii.,  17.  How 
all  these,  and  a  thousand  similar  texts,  exalt  the  Bible  ! 

Indeed,  for  what  purpose  was  this  blessed  volume  in- 
spired and  sent,  but  to  be  a  moral  light,  through  which  the 
Holy  Spirit  may  come  and  manifest  himself,  and  make  all 
other  spiritual  realities  manifest  to  our  minds  ?  an  atmo- 
sphere of  truth,  in  which  He  may  become  spiritually  per- 
ceptible., and  with  which  He  may  breathe  on  the  conscious 
and  intelligent  soul,  as  it  lies  diseased  and  defiled  in  its  sins, 
His  quickening  and  purifying  power  ?  It  is  no  more  evi- 
dent that,  without  natural  light,  we  should  see  no  natural 
objects,  than  it  is  that,  without  this  spiritual  light,  we  should 
have  no  perception  of  spiritual  objects  ;  and  so  should  re- 
main utterly  unaffected  both  by  the  Spirit  himself  and  by 
the  spiritual  world.*  It  is  through  this  holy  light  that  God 
'^shines  into  our  hearts,  and  gives  us" — not  his  actual  sub- 
stance in  the  whole  person  of  his  incarnate  Son,  but — "  the 

*  It  will  be  admitted  that  we  7nust  have  this  body  of  spiritual  light.  If 
we  do  not  have  it  practically  before  the  people,  spread  over  our  eccle- 
siastical firmament,  in  Divine  writings,  we  vmst  have  it  before  their  eyes  in 
the  vague  expanse  of  unwritten  Tradition.  But,  in  this  latter  form,  it  is  a 
light  unavoidably  filled  and  darkened  by  so  many  clouds,  an  atmosphere 
inevitably  pervaded  and  poisoned  by  so  many  miasms,  that  God,  foreseeing 
what  would  happen,  saw  fit  to  give  it  to  us  in  the  form  of  His  own  fixed, 
and  incorruptible,  and  lively  Oracles.  To  these,  therefore,  we  must  go  for 
the  only  clear  light  in  which  we  can  see  spiritual  things,  for  the  only  pure 
atmosphere  in  which  we  can  breathe  the  spiritual  life.  Original  Tradition 
has  been  and  is  incurably  darkened  and  poisoned  ;  and  we  certainly  neither 
Jook  for,  nor  can  accept,  any  new  inspiration,  unless  it  come  accompanied 
with  its  attesting  miracles,  as  in  the  days  of  Christ  and  his  apostles. 


THE  NATURE  OP  BAPTISM.  139 

light  of  the  knoioledge  of  his  own  glory  in  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ." — 2  Cor.,  iv.,  6.  And  so,  "  beholding  this  glory,  as 
in  a  glass"  which  reflects  its  best  brightness,  "  we  are" — 
not  supernaturally  endowed  with  an  addition  from  his  nature, 
but — "  changed  into  the  same  image" — into  a  likeness  to 
Himself;  and  this  blessed  change,  by  His  continual  shining, 
and  our  continual  beholding,  is  carried  on,  "  from  glory  to 
glory,"  in  the  ever-brightening  resemblance,  "  as  by  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord."— 2  Cor.,  iii.,  18. 

Having  thus  disposed  of  one  of  the  suggestions  arising 
out  of  the  previous  chapter,  others  remain  to  engage  our  at- 
tention in  the  next. 


CHAPTER   VI. 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 


John,  iii.,  5 :  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  Except  a  man  be  born  of 
water  and  the  Spirit,  he  can  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God." 

I  AM  still  unprepared  to  enter  on  a  direct  examination  of 
this  and  other  important  texts  on  the  subject  of  the  first 
Christian  Sacrament.  In  approaching  such  an  examina- 
tion, much  time  has  been  required  in  clearing  the  way,  by 
setting  aside  those  loose  interpretations  of  Scripture,  which 
stand,  like  buttresses,  around  the  edifice  of  an  imposing  but 
false  system  of  theology.  In  doing  this,  I  have  not  felt 
bound  to  enter  into  a  critical  examination  of  every  text 
which  may  have  been  pressed  into  the  support  of  that  sys- 
tem, as  it  touches  the  point  of  baptismal  regeneration  and 
justification  ;  but  have  thought  it  enough  so  to  classify  and 
illustrate  those  texts,  or  the  most  important  of  them,  as  to 
show  the  entire  unsoundness  of  the  views  which  they  are 
so  confidently  brought  to  defend. 


140  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

With  this  part  of  the  subject,  however,  I  have  not  yet 
done.  Still  farther  suggestions  present  themselves  from 
what  was  said  in  the  first  chapter  on  Baptism  ;  and  the  con- 
sideration of  them  must  detain  us  yet  a  little  longer  from  what 
I  conceive  to  be  the  true  doctrine  of  the  Bible  on  this  subject. 

II.  The  next  suggestion,  then,  which  I  apprehend,  from 
what  has  been  said,  is  this :  Did  not  God,  at  first,  without 
any  intermediate  means,  create  the  soul  in  holiness,  or  in 
His  own  image  1  and  can  He  not  now  new-create  it  unto 
holiness,  or  His  renewed  image,  without  the  particular  in- 
termediate means  of  Divine  Truth  ?  And,  therefore,  though 
this  new  creation  be  not  by  baptism  as  its  instrument,  yet 
may  it  not  be  at  baptism  as  its  time,  and  in  the  infant  as  its 
subject  ? 

It  is  unfortunate  for  the  argument  intended  to  be  involved 
in  this  suggestion,  that  the  conclusion  which  it  seeks  does 
not  follow  from  the  premises  with  which  it  starts.  To  cre- 
ate a  soul  originally,  and  to  new-create  it  subsequently,  are 
very  different  processes.  In  what  the  former  consists  we 
know  not.  To  us  it  is  in  all  respects  unfathomable.  Into 
the  literally  creative  act  we  can  not  enter.  We  may,  in- 
deed, rationally  decide  in  what  it  does  not  consist.  It  does 
not  consist  in  separating  a  particle  of  the  Divine  substance 
from  God,  and  lodging  it  temporarily  in  a  body  of  flesh  :  for 
then  this  particle  might  be  reabsorbed  into  God  ;  become 
again,  what,  in  truth,  it  had  never  ceased  to  be,  identical 
with  Him ;  and  thus  leave  God  the  solitary  intelligence,  the 
only  being  in  the  universe.  This  would  be  but  the  emana- 
tive  philosophy  of  the  Heathen  ;  the  old  Oriental  Pantheism. 
Thus  far,  then,  as  believers  in  the  Bible,  we  may  go.  The 
creation  of  the  soul  did  not  consist  in  such  an  act.  But 
when  we  come  to  ask.  In  what,  then,  did  it  consist  ?  we 
can  only  say,  this  is  an  inquiry  pushed  to  a  point  on  which, 
in  this  world,  we  must  remain  profoundly  ignorant.  Its 
unsearchable  Author  alone  can  penetrate  and  comprehend 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  141 

the  process.  But  in  what  the  latter  of  the  two  acts  con- 
sists we  know.  It  is  true  that  we  can  not,  in  all  respects, 
comprehend  the  new  creation  of  the  soul.  In  the  move- 
raents  of  the  renewing  Spirit,  the  heavenly  "  wind  bloweth 
where  it  listeth ;  and  we  can  not  tell  whence  it  cometh  and 
whither  it  goeth."  Nevertheless,  we  can  "  hear  the  sound 
thereof;"  we  can  perceive  its  direction  and  its  effects  ;  we 
can  comprehend  something  of  the  process  carried  on  in  our 
inner  man  ;  and  we  can  understand  all  the  results  of  this  in 
our  own  renewed  character.  In  some  respects,  therefore, 
we  know  in  what  this  process  consists.  We  know  that  it 
is  a  totally  different  act  from  that  of  original  creation. 
True,  the  apostle  calls  it  "  a  new  creation"  (Gal.,  vi.,  15) ; 
and  there  are  great  propriety  and  beauty  in  the  figure. 
Still,  it  is  a  figure,  and  but  a  figure  ;  heavy  though  it  be, 
like  all  other  Scriptural  figures,  with  deep  and  important 
meaning.  It  is  a  moral,  not  a  physical,  an  alterative,  not 
an  originating  act.  It  consists,  not  in  originating  a  soul 
into  separate  nature  and  life,  but  in  actuating  the  nature  of 
a  living  soul,  already  originated  and  become  sinful ;  in  so 
actuating  it  as  to  effect  a  moral  change  of  its  nature  and 
character,  of  its  tempers  and  tastes,  its  inclinations  and  pur- 
poses, its  inward  and  its  outward  habits  and  actions.  Now 
this  is  a  process  which  we  can  comprehend.  How  it  be- 
gins with  God  and  is  sustained  by  Him,  we  know  not ;  but 
we  know  how  it  begins  and  is  sustained  in  us ;  even  with 
memory,  reflection,  thought,  feeling,  purpose,  action,  in  the 
great  work  of  repentance,  faith,  love,  and  obedience. 

Creation  consists  in  originating  the  power,  or  faculty,  of 
remembering,  reflecting,  thinking,  feeling,  purposing,  and 
acting ;  the  new  creation  consists  in  putting  this  power,  or 
faculty,  after  it  has  become  disordered  and  diseased,  into 
its  appropriate  and  its  healthful  activities.  Of  the  former, 
we  can  know  nothing ;  of  the  latter  we  know  much. 

The  two  processes,  then,  being  thus  radically  dissimilar, 


142  THE  NATURE  OP  BAPTISM. 

it  by  no  means  follows  that,  because  God  at  first  created  the 
soul  in  holiness,  without  any  intermediate  means,  therefore 
he  can  new-create  a  sinful  soul  unto  holiness  without  the 
particular  intermediate  means  of  His  own  Divine  Truth. 
On  the  contrary,  the  difference  between  the  two  may  be 
such  as,  even  with  the  Infinite,  to  require  in  the  latter  not 
only  some  intermediate  means,  but  the  special  intermediate 
means  of  divine  Truth,  although,  in  the  former,  no  means 
at  all  were  employed.  I  am  constrained  to  believe  that  such 
is  the  fact  5  and  that,  therefore,  since  the  fall,  God  has  fur- 
nished us  with  His  Word,  and  with  His  ministry  for  preach- 
ing that  Word.  He  has  given  to  us  His  own  Truth,  because 
it  was  necessary  in  doing  within  us  His  own  work. 

In  expressing  this  belief,  however,  I  wish  it  observed, 
that  I  do  not  say  God  can  not  renew  a  sinful  soul  without 
the  Bible.  This  would  be  deciding,  more  positively  than  a 
reasonable  man  should  dare  decide,  the  case  of  those  liter- 
ally innumerable  multitudes  who  never  had,  as  well  as  of 
those  countless  myriads  who  now  have  not  the  Bible. 
W^hat  I  suggest,  as  the  basis  of  my  belief,  is  the  inquiry 
whether  God  can,  consistently  with  the  nature  which  He 
himself  has  constituted  in  man,  renew  a  sinful  soul  without 
such  truth  as  the  Bible  contains  1  By  a  special  revelation. 
He  may  communicate  such  truth  to  any  one  capable  of  un- 
derstanding it,  and  thus  effect  His  work  of  "  renewing  the 
soul  through  knowledge  after  the  image  of  Him  that  created 
him,"  without  the  written  form  of  that  truth  in  the  Bible. 
This  admission,  however,  makes  nothing  for  the  advocates 
of  baptismal  regeneration  ;  for  they  do  not  contend  for  such 
a  special  revelation.  Infants  in  baptism  could  neither  ap- 
ply nor  comprehend  it.  It  does,  however,  make  something 
for  what  I  have  advanced.  Every  man,  if  he  have  not  this 
truth  by  a  revelation  special  to  himself,  that  he  may  know 
God  and  spiritual  things,  and  participate  in  the  new  life  of 
the  soul,  must  now,  according  to  the  view  here  taken,  have 


THE  NATUKE  OF  BAPTISM.  143 

it  as  already  revealed  in  the  Bible  ;  either  perused  for  him- 
self, or  in  some  way  proclaimed  or  taught  in  his  hearing. 
And  for  this  purpose,  it  has  been  made  providentially  acces- 
sible. Before  the  fall,  God  talked  with  Adam  face  to  face. 
But  since  that  sad  catastrophe,  though  He  can  do,  and  some- 
times has  done,  the  same  thing,  yet  He  is  ordinarily  with- 
drawn from  such  familiarity  of  intercourse  with  men.  The 
awful  privilege  befits  not  a  race  of  defiled  and  condemned 
criminals.  Still,  as  a  token  of  His  yet  living  mercy  ;  yea, 
as  an  instrument  by  which  this  mercy  may  reach  us  in  our 
guilt  and  ruin,  He  has  graciously  left  us  a  substitute  for  that 
high  fellowship,  by  communicating  to  us  His  written  Truth, 
full  of  the  knowledge  of  himself,  and  divinely  fitted  both  for 
use  by  His  Spirit,  and  for  entrance  into  our  own  minds. 
And  now,  without  this  truth,  addressed  to  our  reason  and 
understanding,  and  flooding  the  world  with  a  knowledge  of 
himself,  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether  He  can  reach  the 
soul  with  his  renewing  and  saving  grace.  To  say  that  He 
can,  is  to  say  that  He  can  save  all  the  heathen  without 
sending  them  either  the  Bible,  or  any  equivalent  for  it  in 
special  revelation  ;  that  He  can  impart  his  grace  to  the  soul 
while  it  lies  in  perfect  ignorance  of  Himself  and  of  all  di- 
vine things.  This  is  a  high  theme  ;  and  it  behooves  us  to 
touch  it  with  reverence.  But,  touching  it  thus,  is  it  pre- 
sumption to  say,  that  God.  by  His  own  dealings,  shows 
that  He  is  self-bound  to  His  own  divine  Truth,  actually 
made  known,  actually  understood  and  felt,  as  His  instru- 
ment in  the  hand  of  the  Spirit  for  quickening  a  voluntarily 
sinful  soul  to  the  new  and  spiritual  life ;  and  that  therefore 
renovation,  or  what  is  the  same  thing,  the  gift  of  the  new 
life  to  the  actual  sinner,  never  takes  place  till  the  infant  be- 
comes capable  of  understanding  and  feeling  those  simple 
forms  of  Divine  Truth,  which  make  known  God  and  the 
soul,  the  Spirit  and  the  Savior?  Let  us  see  what  light  we 
can  obtain  on  this  subject  from  the  spiritual  world. 


144  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

We  have  no  evidence,  then,  either  from  the  principles  of 
philosophy,  or  from  the  testimony  of  revelation,  that  spirit 
affects  spirit  by  impact  of  their  substances.  It  is  not  by 
such  touches  that  they  stir  the  powers,  or  modify  the  shape, 
or  affect  the  nature,  each  of  the  other.  They  doubtless 
have  other  modes  of  action.  And  yet,  of  other  modes  we 
can  not  conceive,  except  as  they  involve  the  use  of  truth. 
I  speak  of  good  spirits  only :  to  those  which  are  evil, 
error  is  as  necessary  as  truth  is  to  others.  We  know 
that  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  the  use  of  the  Bible,  as  revealed 
truth,  can  not  reach  our  souls  while  in  the  body,  except 
through  the  senses  of  seeing  and  hearing.  Suppose,  then, 
the  body  laid  aside,  or,  what  is  the  same  thing,  not  used  in 
the  intercourse  :  how,  in  this  case,  does  the  Spirit  reach 
the  soul  in  the  use  of  truth  1  I  say,  in  the  use  of  truth,  be- 
cause truth  exists  independently  of  the  body,  and  even  of  re- 
corded revelation  ;  and  God  uses  it  in  holding  intercourse 
with  disimbodied  spirits.  But  how  ?  Of  course,  by  pre- 
senting it  to  the  seeing,  or  the  hearing,  or  what  may  be 
termed  the  inward  sense,  of  the  soul ;  that  inward  sense, 
without  which  truth  were  valueless  in  a  world  of  spirits. 
Hence  the  Bible  represents  angels  as  speaking  and  listen- 
ing to  each  other,  and  God  as  speaking  and  listening  to 
them ;  while  they,  in  their  turn,  speak  and  listen  to  Him. 
This  is  not  mere  empty  imagery.  It  carries  silent  proof 
that  fleshless  spirits,  like  God  and  angels,  or  cur  own  un- 
bodied souls,  have  an  inward,  spiritual  sense,  in  the  use  of 
which  they  communicate  and  receive  knowledge  or  truth. 
This  knowledge  and  that  inward  sense,  truth  known  and 
made  known,  are  grand  media  of  happy  and  beneficial  in- 
tercourse between  all  pure  spirits. 

The  same  thing  held  true  when  the  body,  though  not  laid 
aside,  was  yet  unused  in  the  intercourse  of  revelation  be- 
tween God  and  man,  at  least  in  those  cases  in  which  there 
was  no  vision  to  the  outward  eye,  and  no  voice  to  the  out- 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  145 

ward  ear.  "  Holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they  were  moved 
by  the  Holy  Ghost."  But  how  were  they  moved  ?  Was 
it  by  a  sensible  impulse  leaving  them  to  speak  whatever 
might  come  up  amid  the  fervors  of  the  unusual  excitement  1 
No :  but  doubtless  by  the  suggestion  o£  thoughts  pregnant 
with  the  truth  to  be  made  known  ;  that  these  thoughts  might 
be  either  uttered  for  use,  or  recorded  for  permanency.  In 
other  words,  by  truth  and  the  sense  which  received  it ;  truth 
known  and  made  kaovvn,  through  that  receptive  faculty, 
without  which  there  could  have  been  no  revealing  inter- 
course between  God  and  man. 

Here,  then,  is  one  great  established  mode  of  intercommu- 
nication between  spiritual  beings,  and  it  is  a  mode  which 
apparently  meets  all  their  wants  and  all  their  capabilities. 
For  with  truth  understood  and  felt,  with  truth  as  a  light 
shining  every  where  around  them,  all  possible  objects  and 
influences  become  perceptible  and  influential ;  while,  with- 
out truth,  all  is  but  the  darkness,  and  motionlessness,  and 
powerlessness  of  the  moral  world.  If  there  could  be  a 
spirit  without  truth,  or  without  the  faculty  of  receiving  truth, 
it  would  be  necessarily  cut  off  from  all  happy  and  profitable 
intercourse  with  other  spirits,  whether  they  were  its  supe- 
riors or  its  equals.  But  there  are  no  such  spirits.  Mutual 
exchange  of  thought  and  of  truth,  with  the  feelings  and  sym- 
pathies which  follow  in  the  exchange  of  such  Divine  wealth, 
this  constitutes  the  peculiar,  the  established  intercourse  of 
the  whole  world  of  spirits,  imbodied  or  disimbodied  ;  and 
the  mighty  power  involved  in  the  thoughts  and  the  truths,  in 
the  feelings  and  the  sympathies,  which  circulate  in  such  an 
intercourse,  constitute  a  necessary  element,  if  not  the  whole 
body,  of  the  influence  which  one  good  spirit  exerts  over  an- 
other, or  which  one  good  spirit  exerts  over  another  that  is 
ovil. 

The  only  question,  then,  which  can  arise  on  the  point  is 
this :  Is  there  not,  may  there  not  be,  some  other  mode  of 
N 


146  THE  NATrRE  OF  BAPTISM, 

intercourse  and  of  influence  between  spirits,  and  therefore 
between  God  and  tlie  saul,  wtiether  bodily  senses  are  used 
©r  not  used  ? 

I  do  not  expect,  definitively  and  forever,^  to  settle  the  con- 
troversy on  this  point ;  because  men  will  dispute  about  it  so 
long  as  they  can  demand,  what  others  may  not  be  able  to 
give,  a  demonstration  that  no  other  mode  is  possible.  And 
yet,  this  controversy  ought  to  be  capable  of  settlement  by  a 
reasonable  amount  of  moral  probability.  Is  there  not,  then, 
the  strongest  moral  probability,  from  what  has  been  said, 
that  all  the  feelings  and  sympathies,  and  all  the  consequent 
influences  with  each  other  which  can  arise  in  a  right  in- 
tercourse of  spirits,  have  and  must  have  their  ground  in  some 
of  the  numberless  forms,  combinations,  and  relations  of 
truth ;  of  truth  perceived,  understood,  and  felt  ?  Truths 
when  used  in  such  intercourse,  is  addressed  to  the  reason^ 
the  understanding,  and  the  conscience,  or  moral  sense.  If^ 
then,  there  be  an  intercourse,  in  which  truth  is  not  used,  it 
must  be  one  in  which  reason,  understanding,  and  conscience 
remain  without  exercise  ;  for  truth  is  the  only  food  which 
enters  in  by  these  mouths  of  the  soul.  It  follows,  there- 
fore, that  if  there  be  any  other  possible  mode  of  intercourse  or 
communication  between  God  and  pure  spirits  in  general,  or 
between  God  and  our  own  souls  in  particular,  it  must  consist 
in  this:  that  without  truth  communicated,  and  independent- 
ly of  any  inward  sensibility  to  truth,  or  perception  of  it,  God, 
in  some  unknown  manner^  impresses  Himself,  his  simple^ 
naked  essence  upon  the  unreasoning  and  unconscious  soul ; 
enstamping  it  with  his  image,  as  the  seal  leaves  its  likeness 
on  the  yielding  wax  ;  or  quickening  it  with  his  life,  as  the 
dove  broodingly  infuses  animation  into  the  unconscious  egg. 
This,  however,  is  an  hypothesis  which  the  mind  shrinks 
from  admitting,  and  will  not  admit,  till  an  unreasoning  cre- 
dulity has  usurped  the  place  of  an  intelligent  faith. 

No  reasonable  man  will  reject  a  doctrine  merely  because 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  147 

it  involves  a  mystery.  Many  things  are  mysterious,  and 
yet  true.  Such  a  man,  if  he  reject  it  at  all,  will  reject  the 
theory  of  baptismal  regeneration,  as  now  generally  under- 
stood, for  two  reasons  :  1.  Because  he  finds  no  adequate 
testimony  to  it,  either  in  the  Bible  or  from  experience  ;  and, 
2.  Because  it  involves  the  immense  difficulty,  not  to  say  ab- 
surdity, of  supposing  that  the  soul  may  receive  a  communi- 
cation, impartation,  or  impressiom  from  God,  while  utterly 
ignorant  of  His  existence,  and  utterly  incapable,  as  in  in- 
fancy, of  the  removal  of  its  ignorance.  It  is  not  mere  mys- 
tery, here,  which  staggers  faith  ;  it  is  the  absence  of  Script- 
ure proof  in  support  of  the  theory,  and  the  inward  pressure 
of  the  huge  difficulty  inherent  in  the  theory  itself.  With 
nothing  in  the  shape  of  adequate  proof  to  bind  faith  down 
to  the  theory,  this  inward  pressure  forces  her  off,  and  leaves 
the  theory  to  what  must  prove  its  ultimate  fate — explosion. 
To  some  the  foregoing  discussion  may  appear  abstruse, 
and  be  passed  over  as  remote  from  the  easy  run  of  thought. 
And  yet,  abstruse  though  it  be,  it  makes  some  things  plain. 
It  throws  light  on  the  reason  of  this  great  fact,  that,  in 
His  intercourse  with  His  intelligent,  yet  sinful  creatures, 
God  uses,  and  has  furnished  for  our  use,  the  exhaustless 
riches  of  His  Truth.  He  is  Truth  ;  infinite  in  the  treas- 
ures and  in  the  comprehension  of  it ;  and  He  has  made  us, 
though  finite,  yet  capable,  in  reason  and  understanding,  of 
receiving  Him  in  and  through  His  Truth.  Therefore  hath 
He  given  us  the  Truth,  and  Himself  in  it,  and  the  eternal 
world  through  its  shining.  All  this  is  plain  and  certain  ; 
and  if  any  other  mode  of  intercourse  between  God  and  man 
be  possible,  without  involving  the  same  principle  of  truth 
and  its  intelligent  reception,  still,  the  fearful  and  perilous 
darkness  which  meets  us  as  we  attempt  to  seek  for  it,  con- 
strains the  belief  that  it  is  a  mode  which  has  never  been 
followed  by  even  Him,  "  whose  judgments  are  unsearcha- 
ble," and  "  whose  footsteps  are  not  known." 


148  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

To  Others,  again,  the  views  which  have  been  advanced 
may  seem  to  ascribe  too  much,  in  the  work  of  our  renewal, 
to  the  power  of  "  influential  motives  :"  to  be  "  substituting 
Gospel  motives  for  the  Gospel  itself;"  the  tendency  of 
truths  to  excite  love,  for  "  the  love  of  Christ  constraining 
us ;"  and  the  persuasiveness  of  man's  preaching  for  the 
"  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  of  power."*  And,  un- 
doubtedly, there  is  a  system  which  tends  to  "  put  Christ 
out  of  Christianity,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  out  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  ;"  and,  having  done  so,  to  fall  down  and  worship, 
not  the  vacated  Bible,  but  an  idol  of  its  own,  called  Truth. 
Against  such  a  system  and  its  tendencies  we  may  well  lift  a 
loud  voice  of  warning.  But  what  has  this  to  do  with  a 
view  which  makes  God  all  in  all,  Christ  the  whole  hope 
of  his  people,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  the  one  Agent,  every 
where  at  work  in  the  renewal  and  sanctification  of  the 
saints  ?  This  view,  indeed,  makes  truth  a  necessary  medi- 
um of  manifestation,  and  a  necessary  instrument  of  opera- 
tion in  that  renewing  and  sanctifying  work  ;  still,  eff'ectual 
only  because  it  is  "  the  sword  of  the  Spirit ;"  only  because 
it  is  "  the  Word  of  God,"  and  full  of  God  in  His  Word. 

Here,  as  well  as  elsewhere,  there  are  two  extremes  to  be 
avoided.  The  one  is,  casting  God  out  of  His  Word,  and 
then  making  speculations,  and  theories,  and  supposed  truths 
omnipotent.  The  other  is,  divorcing  Truth,  and  putting  her 
away  from  God,  and  then  making  Him  a  Being  who  works 
not  only  amid  the  darkness  of  constant  mystery,  but  also 
amid  the  prodigies  of  ceaseless  superstition.  It  is  needless 
to  say  both  these  extremes  must  be  avoided.  We  must 
leave  God  and  His  truth  where  they  naturally  are — always 
together — one  and  inseparable.  In  no  other  way  shall  we 
know  either  of  them  unto  profit.  Truth  manifesting  God, 
and  God  manifest  through  the  Truth ;  Truth  testifying  for 

*  Tract  67.    Pusey  on  Baptism,  p.  77. 


THE  NATURE  OP  BAPTISM.  149 

God,  and  God  convincing  by  the  Truth;  Truth  shining 
round  all  divine  things,  and  God  making  all  divine  things 
savingly  perceptible  ;  this  is  the  eternal  union  and  co-opera- 
tion of  the  Infinite  with  the  Light  in  which  he  dwelleth. 
The  true  idea  of  "  Gospel  motives"  is  this — God  moving  in 
the  Gospel ;  and  this  is  "  the  love  of  Christ  truly  constrain- 
ing us  ;"  Christ  constraining  us  by  the  love  which  his  Word 
makes  known  ;  while  the  true  "  demonstration  of  the  Spirit 
and  of  power"  lies  here,  the  Spirit  demonstrating  the  power 
of  that  "  preaching  which  is  not  with  enticing  words  of 
man's  wisdom." — 1  Cor.,  ii.,  4. 

And,  finally,  to  others  it  may  appear  that,  according  to 
the  idea  of  baptism  which  has  been  shadowed  forth,  every 
infant  is  left,  through  his  early  years,  a  solitary  thing ;  a 
creature  of  God,  yet  cut  ofi"  from  intercourse  with  Him  ; 
under  the  operation  of  His  law,  yet  incapable  of  renewing 
by  His  grace ;  in  short,  thrown  on  a  cold  world,  and  left 
to  bud  and  blossom  amid  nothing  but  its  frosts. 

With  reasons  for  the  condition  of  infancy  as  a  fact  we  have 
nothing  to  do.  Why  God  has  seen  fit  to  bring  the  human 
creature  into  life,  the  heir  to  an  inheritance  which  may 
hereafter  equal  that  of  an  angel  in  intellectual  and  moral 
wealth  and  happiness,  and  yet  actually  knowing  less  at  its 
birth,  and  less  able  to  care  for  itself,  than  the  youngling  of 
the  dumb  beast  of  burden,  we  know  not,  and  need  not  in- 
quire. The  reason  of  the  order  is  His,  and  to  Himself  is 
perfectly  satisfying.  Yet,  this  much  we  may  say  of  it: 
though  infancy  be  incapable  of  comprehending  the  truths 
of  God,  of  performing  any  religious  act  toward  him,  or  of 
6eing  renewed  unto  repentance  and  faith  as  the  opening  of 
the  new  and  spiritual  life,  yet  is  it  not  left  in  uncared-for 
coldness  and  solitude.  However  unconscious  of  God's  re- 
gards, we  know  that  in  Christ  He  regards  the  infant  with 
the  deepest  and  tenderest  solicitude.  The  intense  interest, 
and  the  sacred  delight  with  which  the  loving  mother  watch* 
N2 


150  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

es  her  first-born,  catches  the  first  gleam  of  its  opening  in- 
teUigence  and  moral  sensibility,  and  seeks  to  nurse  the 
young  spirit  up  for  sweet  and  blessed  intercourse  with  her- 
self— these  are  but  faint  and  feeble  things  compared  with 
that  still  more  intense  interest,  that  still  more  sacred  de- 
light with  which  a  God  of  love  watches  the  infancy  of  ev- 
ery human  being,  sees  its  nature  unfold,  and  seeks  to  draw 
its  young  afl^ections  to  himself.  Yea,  the  anxieties,  cares, 
and  sleepless  love  of  the  Christian  parent  for  his  offspring 
are  actually  but  a  part  of  that  beautiful  and  beneficent  sys- 
tem which  God  hath  ordained,  and  imder  which  he  is  pre- 
paring to  place  the  infancy  of  every  human  being,  in  order 
that  its  first  possible  impressions  may  be  holy,  and  its  first 
possible  knowledge  sanctifying ;  or,  if  not  actually  so,  yet 
harmonious  with  the  holy  and  the  sanctifying  influences 
which  are  living  round  its  young  spirit.  Let  this  suflSce* 
Infancy  is  not  uncared  for  of  God.  He  watches  over  it 
long  before  it  can  be  conscious  of  His  watching,  and  long 
before  it  can  requite  His  care  with  either  gratitude  or  neg- 
lect. 

ni.  I  advance  now  to  another  suggestion  which  may 
arise  from  what  was  said  in  the  first  chapter  on  baptism. 

If,  then,  we  deny  that  infants  may  receive  the  gift  of  a 
new  and  spiritual  life,  in  the  sanctifying  waters  of  baptism, 
does  not  this  throw  us  either  upon  the  gloomy  dogma,  that 
all  infants,  dying  in  infancy,  are  lost ;  or  upon  that  loose 
heresy  which  holds  that  they  are  saved,  because  born  with- 
out sin  1  If  infants  are  sinful,  then,  it  may  be  urged,  all 
who  die  in  infancy  must  either  be  previously  renewed,  and 
have  the  gift  of  a  spiritual  life,  or  be  lost.  Or,  if  they  are 
saved,  though  not  thus  previously  gifted  with  new  and  spir- 
itual life,  it  must  be  because  they  are  born  without  sin. 
Upon  the  one  part  or  the  other  of  this  alternative  it  may  be 
said  we  are  unavoidably  cast,  by  the  view  of  baptism  which 
has  been  indicated ;  a  view  which  forces  us  either  to  hug 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  151 

the  chilling  belief  that  all  who  die  in  infancy  are  lost,  or  ta 
part  from  that  belief  only  to  join  the  rank  heresy,  that  they 
are  born  without  sin. 

To  tliis  suggestion  I  reply.  Whether  those  who  die  in 
infancy  be  saved  or  lost,  is  not  strictly  our  question.  It  be- 
longs to  God,  and  He  will  settle  it  in  equity.  It  need  not, 
therefore,  influence  us  in  what  is  our  proper  business,  seek- 
ing and  believing  the  truth.  As  to  the  tendencies,  however, 
of  the  views  which  I  have  stated,  I  will  endeavor  to  show 
that  they  do  not  land  us  in  either  of  the  deep  heresies  just 
named. 

I  begin,  then,  by  declaring,  with  the  Bible,  that  we  are 
"  shapen  in  iniquity,"  and  "conceived  in  sin"  (Ps.,  li.,  5) ; 
and  by  professing,  with  our  article,  that  "  in  every  person 
born  into  this  world,"  original  sin  "  deserveth  God's  wrath 
and  damnation." — Art.  ix.  And  thus  clear  of  one  of  the 
heresies  named,  it  only  remains  to  be  seen  whether  the 
view  of  baptism  now  advocated  runs  into  the  other. 

If  this  consequence  does  follow,  it  must  be  on  one  or  the 
other  of  these  two  grounds  :  that  all  who  die  in  infancy 
must  be  lost,  either  because  original  sin,  their  only  sinful- 
ness, "  deserves  God's  wrath  and  damnation ;"  or  because 
they  can  not  be  renewed  unto  repentance  and  faith,  and 
have  the  gift  of  the  new  and  spiritual  life.  Does  it  follow 
on  either  of  these  grounds  ? 

Before  I  answer  this  question  directly,  I  must  pause  a 
moment  to  inquire  what  the  language  of  our  article  means, 
•when  it  declares  that,  "  in  every  person  born  into  this  world, 
original  sin  deserves  God's  wrath  and  damnation  ?"  Does 
it  mean  that  the  infant  itself  deserves  God's  wrath  and  dam- 
nation for  being  born  subject  to  this  "  infection  of  nature  ?" 
God  forbid !  The  distinction  between  the  infant  and  the 
"  infection"  which  is  "  m"  him  ;  or  that  between  the  infant, 
as  an  involuntary  subject  of  this  infection,  and  the  adult,  as 
a  voluntary  agent  in  the  actual  sin,  which  is  its  issue,  may 


152  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTrSST. 

be  called  a  nice  one ;  nevertheless,  it  is  a  true  aniT  an  es- 
sential distinction.  Both  the  infection  itself,  and  the  agent, 
when  voluntary  in  giving  it  issue,  deserve  God's  wrath  and 
damnation.  But  the  mere  involuntary,  unconscious  subject 
of  that  infection,  not  having  reached  the  age  at  which  its  is- 
sue becomes  possible,  does  not,  strictly  speaking,  deserve 
such  retribution.  Original  sin,  to  use  the  language  of  the 
Article,  is  "-an  infection."  It  is  a  taint,  a  poison,  whatever 
may  be  understood  by  such  terms,  and  in  this  character, 
God  hates  and  condemns  it.  The  primary  disobedience  of 
Adam  himself,  and  all  its  consequences  both  of  involuntary 
sinfulness  m  the  infant,  and  of  vohmtary  sin  in  the  adult, 
are  objects  of  utter  dislike  to  God,  and  against  them  He 
warreth  ever.  But,  though  thus  "•  angry  with  the  wicked 
every  day,"  yet  on  the  mere  unsinning  infant  (unsinning, 
though  smful)  He  looks  with  a  father's  love  and  compas- 
sion. The  deep  sin  of  Adam,  and  its  deep  efi'ect  on  the 
nature  of  ever}'  one  bom  into  this  world,  these  are  justly 
the  objects  of  "  God's  wrath  and  damnation ;"  but  not  the 
new-born  babe,  involuntarily  become  the  subject  of  the  aw- 
ful infection.  If  he  liv-e  to  be  capable  and  guilty  of  giving 
this  infection  its  issue  in  actual  sin,  he,  too,  fall's  under  the 
never-changing  wrath  of  God  ;  but  till  then,  whatever  other 
relation  he  may  bear  to  his  Maker,  he  bears  not  that  of  the 
actual  transgressor.  With  this  explanatory  remark,  I  pass 
to  the  first  branch  of  the  inquiry  which  has  been  stated. 

1.  Does  the  future  perdition  of  the  dying  infant  follovr 
from  the  fact  that  orig/nal  sin  deserves  God's  wrath  ?  No  " 
for  actual  sin  deserves  the  same,  even  in  the  true  penitent, 
and  after  it  has  been  freely  forgiven.  Nay,  in  the  highest 
saint  who,  in  heaven,  has  become  sinless,  even  in  him,  his 
past  actual  sins  deserve  God^s  wrath,  and  wilt  deserve  ii 
forever.  For  if  sin  ceases  to  deserve  punishment  because 
it  has  been  forgiven,  then  hath  forgiveness  the  power  of 
changing  guilt  into  innocenccj  and  sin  into  holiness  I    No, 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  153 

all  sin,  original  or  actual,  forgiven  or  unforgiven,  alike  de- 
serves God's  displeasure,  and  will  deserve  it  through  eter- 
nity. Hence  it  is  that,  though  Christ  has  paid  our  ransom, 
or  endured  a  substitute  for  our  penalty,  yet  our  salvation  is 
still  all  of  grace.  Although,  therefore,  original  sin  does  de- 
serve God's  wrath,  yet  it  does  not  follow,  from  the  view  now 
taken  of  baptism,  that  those  who  die  in  infancy  must  be 
lost.  If  a  way  have  been  opened,  this  sin  may  be  forgiven ; 
and  thus,  so  far  as  forgiveness  can  contribute  to  the  result, 
they  may  be  saved. 

Has  not  a  way  to  its  forgiveness,  then,  been  opened  ? 
The  limits  which  I  have  assigned  to  my  argument  will  not 
allow  me  to  go  fully  into  the  evangelic  scheme  as  it  touches 
this  interesting  point.  It  must  be  sufficient  to  glance  at  the 
view  of  it  given  in  the  fifth  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans,  from  the  12th  to  the  21st  verse.  Whatever  else 
that  important  and  somewhat  difficult  Scripture  may  con- 
tain, it  contains  at  least  these  things  :  that  Adam  was  a  type 
of  Christ,  in  the  extraordinary  sense  of  the  latter's  being  set 
over  against  the  former  at  all  points,  or  in  all  moral  relations 
to  our  race  ;  that,  as  Adam  brought  sin  and  death  upon  all, 
so  Christ  brings  righteousness  and  life  to  all ;  that,  as  Adam, 
by  one  act  of  trangression,  brought  condemnation,  so  Christ, 
from  many  acts  of  transgression,  brings  justification  ;  and 
that,  while  the  evils  of  Adam's  sin  are  unconditional,  abso- 
lute, the  benefits  of  Christ's  righteousness  are  conditional, 
contingent.  By  his  sin,  Adam  actually,  positively  brought 
death,  temporal  and  spiritual,  upon  all  men.  By  His  right- 
eousness, Christ  brings  life,  spiritual  and  eternal,  condition- 
ally, under  terms,  to  all  men. 

Let  us  see  how  this  bears  on  the  question  before  us.  In 
the  case  of  those  who  die  in  infancy,  with  original  sin  only 
affecting  their  natures,  Christ,  it  would  seem,  stands  to  them 
for  good,  over  against  Adam  for  evil.  As  they  are  brought 
under  the  condemnation  of  original  sin  through  Adam,  so 


154  THE    NATURE    OF   BAPTISM. 

they  receive  remission  of  it  through  Christ.  And  the  con- 
dition— (involuntarily  enjoyed,  indeed,  on  their  part,  but 
voluntarily  secured  to  them  on  God's) — the  condition  on 
which  they  receive  this  remission  is,  that  they  have  com- 
mitted no  actual  sin.  Being  taken  away  from  the  ordinary 
conditions  of  the  Gospel,  they  need  no  other.  For  if,  in 
receiving  this  grant  of  remission,  their  relation  to  Christ  be 
involuntary,  so,  in  becoming  subject  to  the  sin  forgiven,  was 
their  relation  to  Adam  involuntary.  Is  it  not  reasonable, 
therefore,  that,  on  the  condition  named,  Christ,  the  greater, 
should  remove  what  Adam,  the  less,  entailed  1  To  make 
the  principle  here  involved  general :  as  the  first  Adam 
brought  the  condemnation  of  original  sin  upon  the  whole 
race,  so  the  second  Adam  brings  the  remission  of  that  sin 
upon  the  whole  race,  on  condition  that  original  sin  never 
issues  in  actual  sin.  When,  therefore,  God  is  pleased  to 
remove  infants  by  death,  before  they  have  committed  actual 
sin.  He  secures  to  them,  in  his  own  way,  the  benefits  of 
this  condition.  For  Christ's  sake,  He  delivers  them  from 
the  wrath  and  condemnation  which  original  sin  deserves. 
As  Christ  "  tasted  death  for  every  man"  (Heb.,  ii.,  9),  and 
as  God  removes  these  infants  before  they  can  comprehend 
what  their  Redeemer  hath  done  for  them,  and  before  they 
have  committed  any  actual  sin,  so,  it  may  be  believed.  He 
extends  to  them  the  benefits  of  His  death  and  passion, 
without  imposing  any  other  condition  than  that  solitary  one 
which  He  has  himself  secured  to  them — freedom  from  act- 
ual sin.  It  is  thus  the  great  law  of  the  Church  under  the 
Gospel,  that  while,  in  the  case  of  those  who  live  to  commit 
actual  sin,  the  death  of  Christ  can  be  rendered  effectual 
only  by  being  applied  in  the  exercises  of  faith  and  repent- 
ance, or  of  that  inward  renewing  which  is  the  work  of  the 
Spirit  in  the  use  of  Truth  ;  in  the  case  of  all  who  die  in  in- 
fancy, and  without  actual  sin,  the  death  of  Christ  itself  is 
effectual,  without  being  so  applied.     As  they  have  not  be- 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  15S 

come  voluntary  in  following  the  first  Adam's  sin,  so  need 
they  not  be  voluntary  in  relying  on  the  second  Adam's 
righteousness. 

Had  it  not  been  for  Christ,  the  whole  race  had  perished. 
But  since  He  "  hath  tasted  death  for  every  man,"  they  only 
perish  who,  to  the  fact  of  original  sin,  as  an  infection  from 
our  common  head,  add  the  guilt  of  actual  sin,  as  the  intelli- 
gent and  voluntary  issue  of  their  own  minds  ;  and  who, 
thus  guilty  and  defiled,  never  become  renewed  and  sancti- 
fied by  the  Holy  Ghost  unto  repentance,  faith,  and  holi- 
ness ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  either  by  an  actual  volition,  or 
by  cherishing  tempers  which  would  prompt  such  an  act, 
reject  the  ofl'er  of  pardon  and  life  through  the  Savior,  and 
thus  seal,  beyond  reversal,  the  sentence  of  their  own  con- 
demnation. 

This  view  of  the  effects  of  Christ's  death  and  sacrifice 
accounts  for  the  fact  that  so  little  is  said  in  the  Bible  of 
those  who  die  in  infancy.  Toward  infancy  and  childhood, 
as  states  of  life,  the  Bible  is  full  of  the  tenderest  regard. 
The  language  of  Christ  to  those  who  would  have  kept  the 
little  children  from  him  may  be  taken  as  the  best  expres- 
sion of  that  regard  in  summary ;  while  it  shows  that,  be- 
tween original  sin  in  infancy,  and  actual  sin  in  subsequent 
years,  there  is  a  broad  and  important  difference.  But  the 
case  of  those  who  die  in  infancy  the  Bible  leaves  in  almost 
unbroken  silence.  The  comforted  mourning  of  the  peni- 
tent David  over  his  dead  child,  "  I  shall  go  to  him,  but  he 
shall  not  return  to  me"  (2  Sam.,  xii.,  23),  is  the  plainest 
and  loudest,  if  not  the  only  word  ever  uttered  to  break  that 
silence.  The  slaughtered  babes  of  Bethlehem  have,  by 
some,  been  called  martyrs  for  Christ ;  and  yet  it  is  remark- 
able that  the  evangelist  says  not  a  word  of  their  state  by 
nature,  or  of  their  future  condition.  So  far  as  what  the  Bi- 
ble says  may  have  a  direction  toward  this  subject  (the  fu- 
ture state  of  those  who  die  in  infancy),  it  opens  glimpses 


156  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

into  something  bright  and  blessed.  But,  in  the  remarkable 
silence  which  it  generally  obserYes-,  it  plainly  intimates  that 
this  is  a  case  to  which  the  ordinary  conditions  of  the  Gos- 
pel do  not  apply ;  that,  as  "•  what  the  law  says,  it  says  to 
them  that  are  under  the  law,"  so,  what  the  Bible  any  where 
says,  it  says  to  them  that  are  under  the  Bible,  and  can 
understand  its  elementary  and  fundamental  teachings  ;  that 
dying  infants,  not  belonging  to  this  class,  are  in  Gk»d's 
hands ;  and  that,  as  He  sees  good  to  take  them  away  from 
the  ordinary  lot  of  sinful  men,  so  He  probably  takes  them 
to  that  bosom  of  mercy,  to  that  freeness  of  pardon  for 
Christ's  sake,  to  which  the  actual  transgressor  can  be  ad- 
mitted in  no  other  way  than  that  fully  prescribed  in  the 
Gospel, 

On  the  whole,  then,  we  may  confidently  conclnde  that, 
although  original  sin,  as  it  is  expressed  in  the  Article,  ""de- 
serves God's  wrath  and  damnation,"  yet  those  who  die  in 
infancy  are  not,  for  this  reason,  lost,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
may  be  saved  ;  the  way  to  a  free  remission  being  open  in 
this  case  as  well  as  in  others.  To  pass,  then,  to  the  sec- 
ond branch  of  the  inquiry  : 

2.  Does  it  follow  that  those  who  die  in  infancy  must  be 
lost,  because  they  are  incapable  of  that  renewal  unto  re- 
pentance and  faith,  obedience  and  holiness,  which  is  effect- 
ed by  the  Spirit  in  the  use  of  Truth  ? 

It  is  needless  to  repeat  here,  that  no  one  guilty  of  actual 
sin  can  be  saved  without  such  a  renewal.  The  heart  that 
has  once  understandingly,  voluntarily,  deliberately  conceiv- 
ed sin  against  God,  can  never  know  peace  with  Him  till  it 
has  been  not  only  pardoned,  but  also  reconciled,  renewed, 
and  cleansed  of  the  defilement  which  that  accountable  act 
infused.  It  is  enough  to  say,  this  is  not  the  case  now  in 
view.     The  dying  infant  is  not  guilty  of  actual  sin. 

In  reference  to  this  case,  then,  I  reply,  If  dying  infants 
need  any  previous  change  of  nature  in  order  to  their  happi- 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  157 

ness  with  God,  it  can  not  be  such  a  change  as  is  required 
of  those  who  have  become  capable  and  guilty  of  actual  sin. 
For  this  latter  change  takes  its  very  first  steps  in  repent- 
ance and  faith ;  and  it  is  evident  that,  whatever  else  they 
may  need,  dying  infants  need  no  such  change  as  this. 

They  need  not  repentance,  for  they  have  never  committed 
a  sin  of  which  they  ought  to  repent.  Some  strange  theo- 
rists, indeed,  have  taught  that  we  ought  to  repent  of  Adam's 
sin — of  his  personal  and  first  act  of  transgression.  But 
this,  even  when  applied  to  the  case  of  adults,  would  almost 
universally  be  set  down  as  false  theology.  We  may  mourn, 
with  the  deepest  grief  of  which  a  smitten  spirit  is  capable, 
over 

"  Man's  first  disobedience,  and  the  fruit 
Of  that  forbidden  tree,  whose  mortal  taste 
Brought  death  into  the  world,  and  all  our  wo ;" 

and  yet,  this  grief  would  not  be  repentance,  in  the  theologi- 
cal or  Scriptural  sense  of  the  term.  In  this  sense,  we 
neither  need,  nor  can,  repent  of  any  but  our  own,  personal, 
voluntary  acts.  I  can  not  repent  of  Adam's  sin,  any  more 
than  I  can  repent  of  the  sin  of  Judas.  And  if  this  be  true 
even  of  adults,  much  more  than  this  is  true  of  infants.  Dy- 
ing in  infancy,  they  need  no  repentance,  whether  of  Adam's 
sin,  or  of  their  own.  From  Adam,  indeed,  they  have  in- 
herited "  an  infection  of  nature,"  termed  original  sin ;  but 
into  actual  sin,  as  the  fatal  consequence  of  this,  they  have 
never,  by  their  own  volition,  fallen.  They,  therefore,  need 
no  repentance.  They  have  nothing,  they  have  done  nothing 
of  which  they  should  or  can  repent. 

Nor,  again,  do  they  need  faith.  For  faith,  as  it  stands 
related  to  the  offered  pardon  of  sin,  is  that  act  which  the 
soul  performs  when  the  Holy  Spirit  has  "  convinced  it  of 
sin,"  especially  the  actual  sin  of  unbelief;  and  has  thus 
shown  it  the  need  of  a  Savior. — John,  xvi.,  8,  9.  Faith,  as 
a  general  act  of  reliance  on  God,  and  on  what  He  hath  tes- 

O 


158  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

tiiied  in  His  Word,  may  indeed  have  a  wider  scope  than 
this,  though  not  a  different  nature  ;  but,  as  the  act  which 
looks  to  Christ  the  Savior,  and  receives  through  Him  a  free 
forgiveness,  it  can  have  no  other  place  than  that  which  I 
have  named,  the  look  of  the  soul  to  Christ,  when  the  Spirit 
has  convinced  it  of  actual  sin.  But  dying  infants  have  no 
actual  sin,  especially  not  that  of  unbelief,  of  which  the 
Spirit  should,  or  can,  convince  them.  They  need  no  faith, 
therefore,  either  as  the  hand  by  which  pardon  is  received, 
or  as  a  step  in  that  change  through  which  purification 
comes.  For,  of  original  sin  they  can  not  be  convinced,  any 
more  than  I  can  be  justly  convicted  of  the  sin  of  ray  neigh- 
bor ;  nor  need  they  be  convinced  of  it,  any  more  than  a 
miserable  youth,  infected  with  a  hereditary  disease,  which 
is  sure  to  break  out  if  he  lives,  needs  to  be  convicted  of 
that  sin  of  his  parent  in  which  his  disease  originated  ; 
while,  as  we  have  seen,  faith  in  this  connection  is  that  act 
which  apprehends  Christ  as  a  Savior  from  the  guilt  of 
actual  sin  ;  at  the  same  time  opening  a  channel  through 
which  the  heart  becomes  purified  from  the  defilement  of 
that  sin.  Dying  infants,  therefore,  having  nothing  of  either 
this  guilt  or  this  defilement,  have  no  more  need  of  faith  than 
o{  repentance . 

But  repentance  and  faith  are  the  main  steps  in  that 
change  which  every  actual  sinner  must  have  in  order  to 
his  salvation.  As  dying  infants,  then,  need  not  take  these 
steps,  so  neither  do  they  need  the  change  in  which  they  are 
steps.  Consequently,  so  far  as  this  point  is  concerned,  they 
may,  without  this  change,  be  saved.  Whatever  else  may 
be  necessary  to  their  salvation,  such  a  change  is  not  neces- 
sary. 

Thus,  the  theory  of  baptism  which  I  have  shadowed 
forth,  lands  not  its  advocate  in  the  cold  and  horrid  dogma 
that  all  who  die  in  infancy  must  be  lost.  On  the  contrary, 
it  leads  to  bright  and  blessed  views  of  their  future  lot; 


THE  NATURE  OP  BAPTISM.  169 

views  full  of  the  sunlight  of  hope,  and  rich  with  the  bless- 
edness of  anticipated  glory,  to  all  whom  God,  in  His  chas- 
tening goodness,  is  pleased  to  beckon  away  ere  the  stain  of 
actual  sin  has  rested  on  their  spirits.  If  they  can  not  have, 
neither  do  they  need,  that  specifically  renewing  and  sancti- 
fying  change  which  God  demands  of  all  others.  If  they 
do  not  live  to  receive  that  gift  of  a  renewed  mind  which 
Christ  came  to  bestow,  neither  do  they  live  to  feel  that  vol- 
untary breaking  out  of  the  disease  of  sin,  the  workings  of 
which  Christ  came  to  destroy.  Through  Christ's  sacrifice 
the  fact  of  original  sin  is,  it  may  be  believed,  forgiven  them ; 
through  God's  intervention,  the  stain  of  actual  sin  is  not 
contracted.  The  pains  of  temporal  death  come  upon  them, 
not  in  punishment  of  voluntary  guilt,  but  as  that  only  part 
of  the  original  penalty  which  follows  involuntary  infection. 
In  them,  Adam  still  dies  for  his  first  offense.  In  them, 
Christ  now  lives,  through  his  satisfying  obedience.  The 
first  Adam  plunged  them  into  the  peril  of  original  sin.  The 
second  Adam  travailed  for  them  in  bloody  pain,  and  deliver- 
ed them  out  of  their  peril.  The  former  left  them  to  a  state 
of  misery,  as  the  inevitable  consequence  of  introducing  sin 
into  the  world.  The  latter  wins  them  to  a  life  of  blessed- 
ness, as  part  of  his  promised  reward  for  becoming  a  sacri- 
fice for  sin. 

The  only  objection  of  which  I  can  conceive,  that  may  be 
urged  against  the  view  thus  given,  is,  that  although  dying 
infants,  in  order  to  their  salvation,  need  not,  previously  to 
their  death,  the  specific  change  effected  in  repentance  and 
faith,  yet  they  need  some  other  change  which  shall  take 
out  the  infection  of  original  sin  ;  and  this  change  is  the 
mystery  in  baptism.  Even  this  objection,  however,  may, 
I  think,  be  effectually  removed,  or  shown  to  be  utterly 
groundless. 

(1.)  If,  in  the  mystery  of  baptism,  the  infection  oi  orig- 
inal sin  be  taken  out,  then  those  baptized  infants  who  sur- 


160  THE  NATURE  OP  BAPTISM. 

vive  to  "  years  of  discretion"  may  reasonably  be  expected 
to  live  without  actual  sin.  The  effect  of  the  fall  being  once 
remedied,  God  surely  would  not,  after  such  an  infinite  ex- 
penditure in  furnishing  and  applying  the  remedy,  suffer  the 
fall  and  its  effect  to  be  straightway  repeated ;  as  would  be 
the  case  if  such  infants  were  to  commit  actual  sin  after  bap- 
tism. Their  sin,  in  such  a  case,  would  be  literally  "  after 
the  similitude  of  Adam's  transgression :"  it  would  be  liter- 
ally falling  from  a  sinless  condition.  But  what  is  the  state 
of  facts  here  1  Do  those  who  survive  their  baptism  till 
"years  of  discretion,"  live  without  actual  sin?  Universal 
experience  concurs  with  the  Word  of  God  in  testifying  that 
they  do  not.  On  reaching  years  of  moral  action,  they  in- 
variably sin ;  and  thereby  show  in  action  how  perfectly 
true  it  is,  as  expressed  in  doctrine  :  "  There  is  not  a  just 
man  upon  earth,  that  doeth  good  and  sinneth  not." — Eccl., 
vii.,  20. 

What,  then,  says  the  language  of  our  Article  to  the  point  ? 
Does  it  teach  that  the  infection  of  original  sin  is  taken 
away  in  baptism  ?  Directly  the  reverse.  It  declares  that 
"  this  infection  remaineth,  yea,  in  them  that  are  regenera- 
ted." This  remaining  of  the  infection,  too,  is  at  once  a 
reason  why,  if  we  survive  to  years  of  moral  action,  we  in- 
variably sin  after  baptism  ;  and  a  proof  that,  in  thus  sinning, 
we  do  "  not  sin  after  the  similitude  of  Adam's  transgres- 
sion," by  falling  from  a  sinless  condition,  but  after  the  simil- 
itude of  the  unbaptized  around  us,  by  giving  voluntary  issue 
to  the  lingering  infection  within  us. 

2.  Again :  if  baptism  be  the  necessary  mystery  which 
is  infallibly  to  take  out  this  infection,  and  thus  leave  the 
soul  of  the  dying  infant,  before  the  seal  of  death  is  set,  pure 
from  all  stain,  as  its  only  capacity  for  heaven,  then  what 
becomes  of  the  myriads  of  those  infants  who  die  without 
baptism,  not  only  in  heathen,  but  even  in  Christian  lands  ? 
And  how  is  it  that  the  theory  of  baptismal  regeneration, 


THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM.  161 

SO  careful  of  the  infants  of  Christian  parents,  is  so  cruel  to 
the  dying  babes  of  those  who  are  not  Christians  ?  Many 
of  the  advocates  of  that  theory  do  not,  and  all  of  them,  if 
they  consistently  carried  out  their  principle,  would  not,  hes- 
itate to  avow  their  belief,  that  the  mystery  of  baptism  is  so 
absolutely  necessary  to  the  salvation  of  dying  infants,  that 
none  who  die  without  it  can  he  saved.  And  so  the  theory, 
which  thinks  to  save  a  {ew,  consigns  infinite  myriads  of 
dying  infants  to  perdition. 

The  simple  truth  is,  the  mystery  of  baptism  is  not  the 
specific  for  the  removal  of  original  sin,  which  these  theo- 
rists suppose  it  to  be.  This  mystery  does  not  take  out 
that  "  infection  of  our  nature."  It  is  not  thus  necessary  to 
the  salvation  of  the  dying  infant.  Overpowering  probabil- 
ities, yea,  high  moral  certainties,  cluster  around  the  posi- 
tion, that  the  obliteration  of  original  sin,  as  a  lingering  "  in- 
fection of  nature,"  its  obliteration  before  the  hour  of  death, 
is  not  necessary  to  salvation. 

Let  me  be  understood.  I  assert  not  that  the  complete 
sanctification  of  our  nature  from  actual  sin  in  this  life  is 
impossible.  That  is  a  question  which,  in  this  discussion, 
I  need  not  moot.  What  I  mean  is,  that  the  obliteration  of 
original  sin  before  death  is  not  necessary  to  the  salvation 
either  of  the  dying  infant,  or  of  the  dying  man  of  years. 

This  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  the  best  Christians 
actually  carry  this  infection,  and  more  or  less  of  its  fruits, 
to  the  very  hour  of  death.  That  they  do,  is  the  burden  of 
the  concurrent  testimony  of  the  Bible,  of  our  Article,  and  of 
experience ;  three  unimpeachable  witnesses.  The  Bible 
declares,  "There  is  not  z.just  man  upon  earth,  who  sin- 
neth  not ;"  and  experience  says  the  same  thing.  This  is 
the  state  of  facts.  Whatever  becomes  of  the  question  of 
the  possible  complete  sanctification  of  the  soul  from  actual 
sin  in  this  life,  the  fact  comes  to  this :  that,  in  some  of  its 
forms,  it  clings  to  all  living  men,  even  to  the  "just."  But 
03 


162  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

the  presence  of  actual  sin,  in  any  of  its  forms,  though  but 
in  the  most  occult  movements  of  the  will,  is  full  proof  of  the 
co-presence  of  original  sin.  The  actual  would  not  live  an 
instant  but  for  the  coexistence  of  the  original.  The  infec- 
tion of  original  sin,  therefore,  not  only  "  remains,"  as  the 
Article  asserts,  but  remains  till  death,  even  in  the  most 
deeply-experienced  and  truly  ripened  Christian.  Hence, 
at  the.ir  dying  hour,  the  mourning  of  so  many  over  the  re- 
mains within  them  of  the  fruits  of  this  deep-fixed  infection. 
Hence  they  are,  at  that  hour,  driven  to  Christ  «^  alone  as 
their  ground  of  hope,  and  cleave  to  him  in  death  with  a 
fondness  of  love,  and  an  energy  of  faith,  and  a  thorough- 
ness of  self-renunciation  unknown  in  life. 

If,  as  the  objection  supposes,  this  infection  of  original 
sin  must  be  taken  out  before  death,  in  order  to  render  sal- 
vation possible,  then,  even  these  true  Christians,  notwith- 
standing  all  the  wonders  of  redemption  and  grace  which 
have  been  wrought  for  and  in  them,  can  not  be  saved. 
From  their  Savior,  in  all  the  earnestness  and  sweet  ag- 
ony of  their  last  love  for  him,  and  of  their  last  faith  in  his 
sacrifice,  they  must  part  and  perish  ! — a  result,  of  course, 
which  contradicts  the  whole  testimony  of  the  Bible. 

There  is,  then,  no  weight  in  the  objection.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  salvation  that  the  obliteration  of  original  sin 
should  take  place  before  death.  Perhaps  this  previous  ob- 
literation is  not  possible,  though  on  this  point  reasonable 
men  will  not  dogmatize ;  but  perhaps  it  is  not  possible. 
Perhaps  the  high  mysteries  of  our  last  change  on  earth, 
and  the  still  higher  mysteries  which  await  us  when  we 
come  to  "  see  God  as  he  is"  (1  John,  iii.,  2),  are  necessary 
finally  to  take  out  the  deep  infection  which  our  nature  has 
received,  and  to  present  it  again  perfect  in  the  image  of  its 
Creator.  Perhaps  such  a  final  extinction  of  original  sin  is 
to  be  the  summing  up  of  the  whole  mystery  of  our  redemp- 
tion.   Before  the  fall,  God  and  man  met  face  to  face.    Then, 


THE   NATURE   OF   BAPTISM.  163; 

to  look  upon  God  was  to  be  like  him.  But  the  fall  ensued, 
and,  in  displeasure,  God  withdrew  from  sight,  and  from  all 
familiarity  of  intercourse  with  men.  That  loss  of  the  vi- 
sion of  God  was  not  only  the  effect,  but  also  an  aggravation 
of  their  unlikeness  to  him.  And  yet  they  were  not  left 
hopeless  in  their  double  loss.  God  at  length,  and  in  meas- 
ured progress,  made  himself  again  manifest ;  not,  indeed, 
as  at  first,  "  face  to  face,"  but  in  promise,  in  prophecy,  in 
type,  in  ritual,  "  in  the  flesh,"  "  in  Christ ;"  still  partly  hid- 
den, and  yet  in  part,  O  how  gloriously  revealed  !  And  now, 
through  this  graciously  renewed,  though  still  partial  man- 
ifestation of  himself,  through  the  wondrous  sacrifice  on 
the  cross  for  the  free  pardon  of  our  sins,  and  through 
the  blessed  work  of  the  Spirit  in  the  incipient  and  progress- 
ive sanctification  of  our  souls,  he  prepares  as  many  as  re- 
sist him  not,  as  grieve  him  not,  for  a  reintroduction  to  his 
unveiled  presence,  and  for  a  final  and  complete  obliteration 
of  all  unlikeness  to  him ;  and  to  be  thus,  through  Christ  and 
by  the  Spirit,  reintroduced  to  his  presence,  will  be  to  be- 
come again  perfect  in  his  image. 

But,  whether  this  vision  of  God  be  a  necessary  summing 
up  of  the  mystery  of  our  redemption  or  not,  it  is  often,  per- 
haps always,  the  actual  summing  up  of  that  mystery.  The 
work  of  redemption,  in  its  effect  within  us,  frequently,  per- 
haps uniformly,  has  its  completion,  its  last  finishing  touches, 
in  the  power  of  that  first  look  of  the  soul  upon  the  unveiled 
glory  of  God  to  which  John  refers  in  the  expression  above 
quoted  ;  and  if  this  be  either  necessary  or  sufficient  to  ob- 
literate original  sin  from  the  soul  of  the  aged  saint,  much 
more  is  it  sufficient  for  this  effect  in  that  infant  spirit  who, 
before  committing  actual  sin,  returns  to  Him  "  who  gave  it" 
— a  soul  redeemed  by  Christ,  and  presented  to  the  Father, 
for  its  first  sin-extinguishing  look  upon  the  glorious  God. 

It  is  but  reasonable  to  believe  that  such  a  soul,  removed 
in  infancy  from  the  sin,  the  corruption,  and  the  evil  influ- 


164  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

ence  with  which  this  world  is  filled,  and  which  are  early 
as  well  as  powerful  stimulants  to  all  that  is  evil  within 
us.  may  feel  that  first  sanctifying  look  with  a  vastly  more 
penetrating  power  than  that  realized  by  the  Christian,  who, 
after  having  become  defiled  with  actual  sin,  is  here  privi- 
leged to  "  behold,"  indeed,  but  only  "  as  in  a  glass,  the  glo- 
ry of  the  Lord  ;"  and  is  thus  really,  though  gradually, 
"  changed  into  the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  as  by 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord."  If  this  mere  reflection  of  God  upon 
the  eye  of  faith,  an  eye  directed  and  steadied  by  the  Spirit, 
and  yet  beholding  only  His  "  manifestation  in  the  flesh," 
be  thus  efficient  in  gradually  removing  from  the  soul  the 
stains  of  actual  sin  and  guilt,  much  more  shall  that  direct 
vision  of  God,  vouchsafed,  through  Christ,  to  the  sinful,  yet 
unsinning  infant  spirit,  be  efficient  in  at  once  extinguishing 
that  "  infection  of  nature"  which,  however  fatal  in  its  activ- 
ities and  developments,  lies  yet  the  mere  inactive,  undevel- 
oped principle  of  evil. 

I  do  not  intend,  by  any  thing  just  said,  that  the  sin,  the 
corruption,  and  the  evil  influences  with  which  the  world  is 
filled,  are  the  tempters  which  originally  lead  our  naturally 
sinless  hearts,  by  the  power  of  evil  example,  into  the  ways 
of  wickedness.  This  would  be  a  heresy  worse  even  than 
that  condemned  in  our  9th  article.  I  mean  that,  as  the  deep 
infection  of  original  sin  is  in  our  nature,  and  sure  to  act  when 
carried  to  years  of  accountability,  so  the  sin,  corruption,  and 
evil  influences  which  fill  the  world,  may  prove  to  that  deep 
inward  infection  like  impure  air  to  the  seeds  of  already  la- 
tent disease  in  the  body ;  developing  it,  if  not  into  earlier, 
yet  into  more  virulent  and  fatal  growth ;  and  that  the  soul 
of  the  infant,  being  removed  by  the  early  act  of  God  from 
this  morally  polluted  world,  to  a  world  of  purer  airs,  may 
feel  its  first  sanctifying  look  upon  God  as  He  stands  face  to 
face  with  the  absorbed  beholder,  more  penetratingly  and 
more  eflfectually  than  the  glimpses  of  faith  in  this  life  can  be 


THE  NATURE  OP  BAPTISM.  165 

felt  by  the  Christian,  who  only  sees  the  Divine  glory  "  as  in 
a  glass,"  and  even  there,  but  "  through  a  glass  darkly." 

The  whole  apparent  force  of  the  third  suggestion,  that 
which  has  led  to  this  part  of  the  discussion,  arises  from  an 
ambiguous  use  of  the  term  sinful.  If  infants  be  sinful,  it  is 
asked,  Must  they  not  be  changed,  and  have  a  new  life  im- 
parted to  them  before  death,  in  order  to  their  salvation  ? 
What  has  already  been  said  in  reply  to  this  shows  the  ne- 
cessity of  distinguishing  carefully  between  being  sinful  and 
being  sinners ;  or  between  original  sin  and  actual  sin. 

What  constitutes  the  precise  ultimate,  or  specific  differ- 
ence between  the  two,  we  know  not,  and  probably  never  shall 
know,  till  we  come  to  read  that  difference  by  the  light  which 
shineth  in  heaven.  Still,  there  are  some  things  which  show 
that  they  are  different,  and  that  their  difference  is  important. 
Thus,  we  know  that,  in  original  sin,  the  new-born  babe  is 
not  strictly  guilty ;  he  is  not  guilty  by  a  voluntary  consent  to 
the  infection  :  while  in  actual  sin,  the  adult  is  guilty  ;  guilty 
by  a  voluntary  consent  and  indulgence  in  the  act.  So,  also, 
in  estimating  original  sin,  we  see  that  the  infection  alone 
"  deserves  God's  wrath  and  damnation ;"  while  in  estima- 
ting actual  sin,  we  see  that"  the  wrath  of  God  abideth"  both 
on  the  act  and  on  the  agent.  Now  these  circumstances 
show  that  the  two  things  are  really  different ;  and  yet  they 
show  us  not  in  what  the  difference  consists.  They  are  no 
parts  of  that  difference,  but  only  consequences  of  it.  The 
difference  itself  ?nai/ be  something  analogous  to  that  between 
a  seed  and  its  plant ;  the  former  of  which  never  produces  the 
latter  without  the  concurrence  of  certain  conditions  ;  while 
the  latter,  when  produced,  contains  within  itself  multiplied 
repetitions  or  reproductions  of  the  former.  Or  this  difference 
may  be  something  analogous  to  that  between  a  poison,  and 
the  disease  of  the  body  which  it  generates  ;  the  former  sure 
to  result  in  the  latter ;  and  yet  the  latter  characteristically 
distinct  from  the  former.     But,  whatever  this  difference  be, 


166  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

there  can  be  no  doubt  that,  were  it  once  exposed  to  obser- 
vation, it  would  more  clearly  than  ever  manifest  the  reason 
why  those  who  die  in  infancy  are  saved,  notwithstanding 
they  carry,  from  their  brief  passage  through  a  corrupt  stock, 
the  infection  of  original,  though  not  the  guilt  of  actual  sin, 
into  the  presence  of  Him  who  is  infinite  in  holiness. 

I  have  said  the  difference  between  original  and  actual  sin 
may  be  somewhat  analogous  to  that  between  poison  and  the 
disease  which  it  generates.  The  Article,  so  often  mention- 
ed, seems  to  suggest  this  possible  analogy,  when  it  defines 
original  sin  to  be  "  an  infection  of  nature."  Infection  is 
"  that  which  taints,  poisons,  or  corrupts,  by  communication 
from  one  to  another."  Perhaps,  therefore,  by  dwelling  a 
moment  on  this  suggested  analogy,  the  light  which  we  have 
on  this  point  may  become  a  little  lighter. 

Poison,  then,  we  know,  when  lodged  in  the  body  and  be- 
fore it  has  begun  to  act ,  must  in  some  way  be  expelled,  or 
it  will  generate  a  dangerous  disease,  sensibly  felt  and  visibly 
manifested.  But  after  it  has  begun  to  act,  it  can  no  longer 
he  expelled,  except  with  its  eflfects  :  it  must  therefore  have 
an  antidote,  neutralizer,  remedy,  or  the  disease  which  it  has 
generated  will  inevitably  kill.  So,  original  sin,  as  a  poi- 
son in  the  soul,  "  an  infection  of  nature,"  before  it  has  be- 
gun to  act,  must  be  expelled,  or  it  will  dangerously  disease 
the  soul,  the  life,  the  whole  man,  inner  and  outer.  But  after 
it  has  begun  to  act,  it  can  no  longer  be  expelled,  except  with 
the  last  of  its  effects  ;  it  must  therefore  have  an  antidote, 
neutralizer,  remedy,  or  it  will  prove  inevitably  and  eternally 
fatal. 

Now  we  know,  still  farther,  that  poison,  and  the  disease 
which  it  generates,  are  not  one  and  the  same  thing.  Hence 
it  is  that  they  admit  of  entirely  different  treatment,  before 
and  after  the  generating  action.  If,  therefore,  there  be  any 
thing  in  the  suggested  analogy,  original  and  actual  sin  are 
not  one  and  the  same  thing ;  whence  it  is  that  they  receive, 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  16*? 

as  well  as  admit  of,  very  dissimilar  treatment  before  and 
after  the  period  of  moral  accountability.  In  the  dying  in- 
fant, the  moral  poison  is  expelled  in  God's  own  way  :  first, 
its  action  is  prevented  by  the  suspending  stroke  of  death  ;  and 
then  itself  is  taken  wholly  out  by  the  energy  of  a  direct  vi- 
sion of  the  perfect  God,  graciously  vouchsafed  for  the  sake 
of  Him  who  "  hath  tasted  death  for  every  man."  But  in  the 
adult,  this  process  becomes  impossible  :  disease  has  set  in  ; 
and  it  must  now  be  healed  (unless  it  be  suffered  to  become 
fatal)  by  its  appointed  remedy,  the  mercy  of  God  in  Christ, 
applied  and  made  effectual  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  use  ol 
Truth,  in  the  renewing  and  sanctifying  change  of  repent- 
ance and  faith,  and  with  the  present  fruits  of  love,  obedience 
and  holiness. 

These  remarks,  though  of  course  an  inadequate  illustra- 
tion of  the  difference  between  original  and  actual  sin,  are 
still  enough  to  show  that  they  are  different ;  and  that  this 
difference  detects  the  fallacy  couched  in  the  suggestion 
which  has  been  considered.  The  infant,  w^ho  sleeps  in  ear- 
ly death,  and  the  adult,  who  sleeps  in  Jesus  after  a  life  of 
accountability,  are  both  sinful,  but  not  both  actual  sinners; 
and  they  are  both  saved  by  God's  mercy  through  Christ,  but 
by  a  totally  different  application  of  that  mercy. 

At  the  same  time,  these  remarks  give  increased  strength 
to  the  conclusion,  that  there  is  no  weight  in  the  special  ob- 
jection which  I  have  been  considering.  It  is  a  mistake  of 
the  very  genius  of  the  Gospel  to  suppose  that,  in  order  to 
salvation,  we  must,  before  the  hour  of  death,  be  purified 
from  the  infection  of  original  sin.  This  would  be  virtually 
to  demand  that  the  image  of  God  should  be,  not  only  in  the 
process  of  a  renewed  formation  within  the  soul,  but  brought 
to  its  last  finishing  touch,  in  the  present  life.  This  would 
be  more  than  multitudes,  if  not  more  than  any,  of  even  the 
eminent  servants  of  Christ  attain,  while  yet  in  the  flesh. 
Christ,  indeed,  came  *'  to  destroy  sin,  the  work  of  the  dev- 


168  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

il ;"  and  ultimately  he  will  effect  his  object,  till  not  a  sherd 
of  the  broken  image  of  evil  remain  in  any  one  of  his  disci- 
ples. But,  allowing  it  to  be  possible,  still,  it  is  not  necessa- 
ry that  the  last  stroke  in  this  work  should  be  struck  this 
side  the  grave.  Christ's  main  purpose,  so  far  as  it  falls  with- 
in the  present  life,  is  to  bring  men  within  the  reach  and  em- 
brace of  mercy ;  to  open  before  them  the  door  of  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  ;  and  to  set  them  in  the  way  which  passes 
through  its  entrance.  As  illustrative  of  this  point,  it  seems 
to  me  that  the  whole  view  which  the  Bible  gives  of  the  fall 
and  recovery  of  mankind  may  be  thus  briefly  stated. 

By  his  first  disobedience,  Adam  opened  and  spread  the 
broad  roll  of  a  flying  curse  over  the  whole  race  of  man. 
His  act,  which  was  one  of  rebellion,  cut  the  race  off  from 
God  ;  and,  thus  cut  off,  the  whole  fell  into  a  state  of  moral 
separation  from  Him :  a  state,  which  rendered  it  certain 
that  every  individual  would,  on  reaching  years  of  moral  ac- 
tion, commit  actual  sin.  That  state  of  the  race,  including 
this  attendant  certainty,  constitutes  original  sin.  It  is  a 
state  over  which  "  God's  wrath  and  damnation"  rest ;  and, 
at  the  same  time,  one  which  includes  every  individual  of 
the  race,  from  Adam  to  the  last  of  his  stock.  Thus  much  of 
the  fall. 

In  the  recovery,  Christ,  the  second  Adam,  by  his  obedi- 
ence unto  death,  brought  in  a  blessing,  which,  in  the  possi- 
bilities of  its  application,  is  coextensive  with  the  primal 
curse.  He  threw  the  reach  and  embrace  of  mercy  around 
the  entire  race.  He  "  tasted  death  for  every  man."  He 
opened  the  door  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  all  mankind. 
He  made  eternal  life  possible  to  the  whole  race,  from  Adam 
to  the  last  of  his  stock.     And  thus  much  of  the  recovery. 

According  to  this  view,  the  infancy  of  every  human  being 
appears  to  be  a  conditon  actually  embraced  within  the  mer- 
cy of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  and  if  God  call  the  infant  away 
while  in  that  condition,  or  before  actual  sin,  it  will  be  difficult 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  169 

to  deny  that  He  calls  it  to  Himself  and  to  salvation,  the 
work  of  extinguishing  the  infection  of  original  sin  being 
complete  in  the  first  vision  of  his  glorious  face. 

But,  if  the  life  of  the  human  being  reach  to  years  of  moral 
action,  to  actual  sin,  the  individual  enters  a  state  not  cover- 
ed by  the^r.^^  application  of  mercy.  He  passes  from  that  gen- 
eral condition  of  the  race,  into  a  state  of  personal  liability 
for  voluntary  acts  ;  and  before  he  can  again  pass  within  the 
embrace  of  mercy,  he  ransi,  personally  and  for  himself,  have 
"  repentance  toward  God,  and  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ ;"  his  sin  must  be  slain  by  that  Spirit,  whose  sword 
is  the  Word  of  God ;  and  his  soul  must  be  renewed  by  that 
Holy  One,  whose  sanctifyings  are  through  the  truth.  This 
is  the  full  Gospel-method  of  salvation.  This  is  what  the 
Bible  says  to  them  that  are  under  the  Bible.  And  all  who 
thus  come  to  Christ,  making  voluntary  covenant  with  him, 
and  continuing  faithful  to  the  end,  are  saved  ;  not  because 
in  this  life  they  necessarily  become  perfect,  or  free  from  the 
infection  of  original  sin,  but  because  they  are  in  Him  who  is 
perfect,  and  who  will  ultimately  perfect  them,  when,  after 
the  blessed  trials,  and  the  loving  discipline,  and  the  glorious 
progress  of  time,  he  brings  them  to  the  full  vision  of  God, 
^  and  presents  them,  at  last,  "  faultless  before  the  presence  of 
his  glory  with  exceeding  joy." 

It  is  evident  that  this  is  not  a  gospel,  nor  a  view  of  the 
Gospel,  which  encourages  indolence  in  the  Divine  life,  or 
allows  men  to  rest  satisfied  with  mere  half-way  attainments 
in  grace.  It  puts  every  renewed  heart  to  panting  after  per- 
fection ;  it  sets  every  foot  which  has  been  turned  to  God's 
testimonies  boldly  and  determinedly  on  the  race  toward 
perfection  ;  and  it  throws  unwonted  terrors  on  the  way  of 
him  who,  having  thus  started,  carelessly  suffers  a  pause  in 
his  progress,  or  a  rest  to  his  pantings  after  perfection.  Still, 
it  is  a  gospel,  or  a  view  of  the  Gospel,  which  sheds  not  only 
hope,  but  "  the  full  assurance  of  hope,"  on  the  way  of  him 

P 


170  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

who,  having  been  renewed  by  the  Spirit  unto  repentance  and 
faith  in  Christ,  thus  sets  forth  and  thus  perseveres  on  the 
Christian  course,  even  though,  amid  the  weaknesses  of  na- 
ture, and  the  intensities  of  the  conflict  witli  evil,  he  come  to 
the  goal  of  death  with  something  still  of  remaining  sin  with- 
in him.  He  has  the  beginnings  of  the  "  life  hid  with  Christ 
in  God  5"  and  he  knows,  to  his  deep  joy,  that  when  he  comes 
to  see  Hiin,  he  shall  he  fully  "  like  Him  ;  because  he  shall 
see  Him  as  He  is." 

But  what  are  the  results  of  this  view  of  the  Gospel  as 
applied  to  the  case  which  has  been  passing  before  us  ? 
Evidently  these :  all  the  countless  myriads  who  have  died, 
and  who  are  yet  to  die,  in  infancy,  whether  in  Christian 
or  in  heathen  lands,  in  all  ages  and  in  all  nations,  prob- 
ably have  entered,  or  will  enter,  heaven — the  trophies  of 
God's  redeeming  mercy  in  Christ.  The  heathen  are  thus 
shown  to  be,  in  all  probability,  Christ's  "  inheritance"  not  only 
by  purchase,  but  also,  to  no  small  extent,  by  '■'■possession  ,■" 
and  when  we  come  to  listen  to  infant  choirs  around  the 
throne  of  God,  we  may  see  not  only  how  literally,  but  also 
how  largely  true  were  the  Savior's  words  :  "  Of  such  is  the 
kingdom  of  heaven."  In  short,  to  pass  from  those  who  die 
in  infancy  to  those  who  survive  till  "  years  of  discretion" — 
that  great  mass  of  responsible  human  beings  to  whom  the 
Bible  is  addressed,  and  with  whose  case  it  is  mainly  con- 
cerned—  they  only  perish  {fearfully  great,  doubtless,  will  their 
number  be)  who  voluntarily  reject  Christ  and  grieve  from 
their  hearts  the  Spirit  of  Life  ;  or  who,  in  lands  uiievauge- 
lized,and  in  dark  corners  not  reached  by  the  Gospel,  ro/jw- 
tarily  and  persei'^eringly  do  violence  to  the  law  within  them, 
and  cherish  those  tempers  which  would  "  crucify  afresh  the 
Son  of  God,"  were  he  revealed  to  them,  and  "  do  despite  unto 
the  Spirit  of  Grace,"  were  he  to  strive  intelligently  with 
their  hearts. 

To  this  view  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  append  a  notice  of 


THE    NATURE    OP    BAPTISM.  l7l 

what  the  Bible  says  in  such  passages  as  these  :  "  Without 
faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God." — Heb.,  xi.,  6.  "  He 
that  believelh  not  shall  be  damned." — Mark,  xvi.,  16.  These 
passages  touch  not  the  case  either  of  those  who  die  in  infan- 
cy, or  of  those  who  never  hear  of  Christ.  They  are  but 
specimens  of  what  the  Bible  says  to  them  that  are  under  the 
Bible,  and  can  understand  the  Bible.  While,  therefore,  of 
such  they  are  solemnly  true,  to  such  they  are  manifestly  lim- 
ited. 

To  sum  up  what  has  been  said  in  answer  to  the 
third  suggestion,  is  it  not  plain  that,  in  rejecting  the  now 
commonly-received  theory  of  baptismal  regeneration,  under 
all  those  modifications  which  leave  it  still  itself,  we  are 
not  landed  either  in  the  error  of  the  Pelagians,  or  in  the  chill- 
ing dogma  that  salvation  is  impossible  to  dying  infants  ? 
We  may  retain  the  doctrine  of  Original  Sin,  as  we  must 
heartily  and  steadfastly  retain  it,  in  all  the  strength  of  the  lan- 
guage used  in  our  9th  Article  ;  while  yet  v.^'  r^^joicingly  be- 
lieve that  all  who  die  in  infancy  are  savej  :  n.jcctuse,  over 
against  the  first  Adam,  who  brought  the  race  under  condem- 
nation, stands  Christ  the  second  Adam,  who,  on  appropri- 
ate conditions,  has  brought  in  pardon  for  all ;  because  those  • 
who  die  in  infancy  7ieed  not,  what  they  can  not  have,  the 
specific  change  which  is  eflected  in  repentance  and  faith  ; 
and  because  they  do  not  need,  what  in  like  manner  they 
can  not  have,  even  that  vague  mystery  in  baptism  which,  it 
is  claimed,  obliterates  the  infection  of  original  sin.  This  is 
an  infection,  which  we  are  justified  by  the  Bible,  by  the 
Church,  and  by  experience,  in  saying,  remains  to  trouble  and 
vex  even  the  ripening  Christian,  till  he  comes,  after  his  dy- 
ing hour,  to  look  full  upon  the  glories  of  God,  and  to  feel 
the  last  pulse  of  "  the  old  Adam"  cease  amid  the  finally  full 
beatings  of  the  new  and  heavenly  Life. 

In  the  somewhat  prolonged  discussion  on  the  nature  of 
baptism  which  has  extended  through  the  last  three  chao- 


172  THE    NATL'RE    OF    BAPTISM. 

ters,  it  has,  I  think,  been  demonstrated,  at  least  with  reason- 
able certainty,  1.  That  the  theory  of  baptismal  regeneration 
which  makes  baptism  a  sort  of  miracle,  a  mystery,  in  which 
the  Holy  Spirit  imparts  to  the  infant  Jesus  Christ  in  his 
very  incarnate  nature,  as  the  seed  or  principle  of  a  new  life, 
is  without  any  support  in  the  Bible  :  2.  That,  short  of  this. 
there  is  nothing  on  which  we  can  rest  till  we  come  to  that 
moral  change  of  our  nature  which  is  effected  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  the  use  of  Divine  truth  :  3.  That  this  change,  hav- 
ing for  its  principal  steps  repentance  and  faith,  is  one  which 
our  Church,  in  her  Catechism,  pronounces  impossible  in  in- 
fancy :  4.  And,  finally,  that  a  rejection  of  the  above  theory 
of  baptismal  regeneration,  in  its  various  modified  forms,  is  per- 
fectly consistent  with  the  language  of  our  9th  Article,  while 
at  the  same  time  it  leads  to  bright  and  blessed  views  of  the 
future  state  of  one  of  the  most  interesting  portions  of  the  hu- 
man race — dying  infants. 

The  views,  indeed,  thus  far  presented  on  this  subject 
may  not  appear,  to  all  minds,  free  from  difficulty  ;  nor 
would  it  be  reasonable  to  look  for  such  a  result  to  any  dis- 
cussion on  the  same  subject.  It  is,  perhaps,  impossible  to 
frame  a  system  of  theology  which,  on  all  points,  espe- 
cially on  one  so  controverted  as  this,  shall  be  thus  free 
from  difficulty.  The  most  sanguine  theologian,  I  apprehend, 
never  dreamed  of  presenting  a  view  of  this  point  which 
should  labor  under  no  difficulty  at  all.  The  most  that  can 
be  hoped  for  is,  to  find  that  point  of  view  which  makes 
Scripture  most  harmonious  with  itself,  and  which  leaves  the 
fewest  and  the  least  difficulties  in  the  way  of  a  clear  and 
settled  faith.  Were  theology,  at  all  points,  free  of  difficul- 
ty, it  would  not  be  of  a  piece  with  all  the  rest  of  God's  sci- 
ences. At  least,  the  mind  which  could  so  penetrate  all  its 
depths  as  to  throw  the  light  of  demonstration  every  where, 
would  thereby  give  proof  that  it  had  taken  one  step,  if  no 
more,  in  advance  of  even  the  inspired  men  themselves  of 
olden  times. 


THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM.  173 

I  am  now  ready  to  take  up  the  principal  texts  on  the  sub- 
ject of  Baptism,  and  to  see  what  light  they  cast  on  the  nature 
of  this  sacrament. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 


John,  iii.,  5 :  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee.  Except  a  man  be  bom  of 
water,  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  can  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God." 

In  what  I  have  thus  far  said,  whether  on  the  subject 
of  preaching,  or  on  that  of  baptism,  I  have  been  mainly 
intent  on  these  three  points  :  1.  That  our  renovation 
unto  a  new  and  spiritual  life  is  the  great  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  Avrought  on  the  intelligent  mind  in  the  use 
of  Divine  truth  ;  2.  That  this  work  can  not  be  wrought 
in  the  baptism  of  infants,  because,  as  our  Church  her- 
self teaches,  the  mind,  at  that  tender  age,  is  not  capa- 
ble of  the  repentance  and  faith  which  the  work  in- 
volves ;  and,  3.  That  the  alleged  mystery  of  baptism, 
which  consists  in  an  actual  communication  to  us  of  the 
Divine  nature,  especially  as  manifest  in  the  Incarnate 
Son  ;  a  communication  effected  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
and  of  the  sanctified  and  sanctifying  waters  of  baptism, 
and  characterizing  the  theory  of  baptismal  regeneration 
as  now  currently  taught,  is,  in  all  its  modifications,  un- 
sanctioned by  Scripture,  and  in  itself  morally  impossible, 
on  the  principles  of  the  nature  in  which  God  has  con- 
stituted, and  upon  which  He  deals  with  man. 

The  view  of  the  new  birth  which  I  have  begun  to  sha- 
dow forth  is  clearly  taught  in  the  following  passage ; 
with  a  remark  upon  which,  by  way  of  bringing  the  sub- 
ject to  mind,  I  will  introduce  what  I  have  yet  to  say. 
P2 


174  THE    NATURE    OF   BAPTISM. 

"  Of  his  own  will  begat  He  us  with  the  Word  of  Truth, 
that  we  should  be  a  kind  of  first-fruits  of  his  crea- 
tures" (James,  i.,  18)  ;  or,  literally,  "  He  who  toilled  hath 
begotten  us  by  the  Word  of  Truth."*  Nothing  can 
be  clearer  than  this  as  to  the  fact  which  it  asserts. 
God,  putting  His  will  into,  or  with,  "  the  Word  of 
Truth,"  His  own  true  Word,  had  "  begotten''^  the  early 
Christians,  and   made  them   "  first-fruits    of  his   crea- 

*  BovXrjdcis  avcKvrjacv  fiixai  \6ytif  aXrjOclas ',  not  eyii'i'rjutv,  as  in  1  Cor.,  IV.,  15, 
and  elsewhere.  The  two  words,  however,  are  of  similar  significancy,  and 
of  equal  extent  of  meaning. 

Dr.  Pusey,  indeed,  attempts  to  show  that  "  baptism  is  spoken  of  as  the 
source  of  our  spiritual  birth  as  no  other  cause  is,  save  God ;"  because  the  same 
preposition  is  used  when  speaking  of  the  Water,  as  when  speaking  of  the 
Spirit,  or  of  God :  ycvvrjOn  'EE  (idaros,  'EK  UvdiJiaTOi,  'EK  BtS ;  while,  in  speak- 
ing of  "  the  Word  of  Truth"  as  the  "  more  remote  instrument"  of  that  birth, 
a  different  preposition  is  used :  aIA  \6yn,  AIA  tS  davyi\i!i,  &c.  But  the 
criticism,  I  apprehend,  is  unsound.  The  expressions,  ck  Trvtinaros,  ix  ecS, 
denote  the  sole  agent  of  the  new  birth  ;  as  these,  iid  XSyu,  iui  th  cvavytXiu,  de- 
note the  sole  instrument  of  the  work.  Why,  then,  it  will  be  asked,  is  it  said 
that  we  must  be  born,  i\  MaToj,  if  the  Word  of  Truth  be  the  sole,  instead  of 
only  the  more  remote,  instrument  of  the  work  ?  I  answer,  because,  water 
being  the  appointed  and  significant  symbol  of  the  Spirit's  cleansing  influen- 
ces, we  are  symbolically  born  of  water,  as  we  are  really  born  o/the  Spirit, 
or  by  His  agency.  To  say  that  water  is  really  a  source  of  the  new  birth  con- 
jointly with  the  Spirit,  because  the  same  preposition  is  used  of  both,  is  to 
say  that  water  is,  not  a  more  immediate  instrument,  but  a  joint  agent  with 
the  Spirit ;  or  that  we  are  born  of  water  in  the  same  sense  in  which  we  are 
born  of  the  Spirit ;  and  thus,  on  the  theory  of  Dr.  P.,  that  the  "new  crea- 
ture in  Christ"  is  composed  jointly  of  the  two  elements,  water  and  the 
Spirit.  The  truth  is,  water  is  neither  ayi  agent  nor  an  instrument,  but  it  is 
the  symbol  of  the  agent,  or,  rather,  of  His  cleansing  influences;  and,  there- 
fore, the  same  preposition  is  used  in  speaking  of  it  as  is  used  in  speaking  of 
that  of  which  it  is  the  symbol. 

It  is  needless  to  add,  that  in  the  passage  in  James  there  is  no  preposition 
governing  Xdyt^  aXtiddas-  It  is  what  grammarians  call  "  the  dative  of  the  in- 
strument." 

The  passage,  1  Pet.,  i.,  23,  is  exactly  equivalent  to  that  from  Jam.,  i.,  18 : 

"  Beingborn  again,  dvK  ix  avopSi  <j>OnpTris,a\\a  dipSiipTy]^,  iia  \6yov  g(3v7o;  Qcou  :" 

the  "  Incorruptible  Seed"  referring  to  the  Holy  Spirit  as  the  sole  agent,  and 
"the  Word  of  the  living  God"  to  Divine  Truth  as  the  sole  instrument. 
[For  the  criticism  to  which  this  note  refers,  see  Pusey  on  Bap.,  Tr.  67,  p. 
25,  26,  N.  Y.  ed.] 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM,  175 

tures."  If  this  be  not  the  work  of  our  new  birth^  of  our 
being  begotten  to  the  new  and  spiritual  life  by  the  sole 
instrumentality  oi  the  Word  of  Truths  then  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  find  that  work  described  or  asserted  in  the  Bible, 
as  the  result  of  a7iy  agency,  or  o(  any  instrumentality. 

With  a  similar  meaning,  James  goes  on  to  exhort  those 
whom  he  addressed  to  "receive  with  meekness  the  in- 
grafted Word,  which  was  able  to  save  their  souls.'''' — James, 
i.,  21.  The  fgure  here  is  changed,  but  not  the  signifi- 
cancy.  The  Word  ingrafted,  the  Truth  implanted  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  is  the  instrument  of  the  new  birth.  Far- 
ther along  the  figure  is  again  changed,  though  the  same 
significancy  remains;  with  this  difl'erence,  perhaps,  that 
what  is  said  of  the  Word  as  "  a  glass,"  the  mirror  of  a 
*'  perfect  Law,"  and  of  him  who  "  looketh  into"  it,  as 
"  like  unto  a  man  beholding  his  natural  face  in  a  glass," 
has  a  broader  application  ;  reaching  not  only  to  him 
who,  for  the  first  time,  looks  into  the  mirror  of  the 
Word  with  a  spiritual  perception,  belief,  and  love  of  the 
truth,  but  also  to  him  who,  having  entered  on  the  way 
of  life,  "  continueth  therein,"  consulting  often  the  same 
Divine  Mirror,  which  first,  through  the  Spirit,  brought 
him  to  a  knowledge  of  the  Savior;  and  even  extending 
to  him  who,  having  the  Mirror  of  Truth,  looks  into  it, 
but,  upon  "  beholding  himself,  goeth  his  way,  and 
straightway  forgetteth  what  manner  of  man  he  was." — 
James,  i.,  22-25. 

The  whole  passage  shows  us  the  true  place  and  po- 
sition of  the  Word  of  God,  His  Divine  Truth,  both  in 
its  relations  to  Him  who  uses  it  as  his  sole  instrument 
in  our  regeneration,  and  in  its  aspect  upon  us,  in  whom 
it  is  made  to  effect  His  blessed  work. 

Here,  then,  it  will  be  asked,  If  there  be  no  such  thing 
as  an  actual  impartation  to  us  of  the  very  Divine  na- 
ture, that  awful  mystery  in  baptism,  or  as  the  alleged 


176  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

gift  involved  in  some  one  of  the  various  modifications 
of  this  theory  ;  and  if  the  Spirit  ahmys  performs  his 
quickening  and  renewing  work  in  the  intelligent  use  of 
Divine  Truth,  and,  therefore,  always  in  the  mind  after 
it  has  become  capable  of  understanding  at  least  the  sim- 
ple and  sovereign  elements  of  that  Truth  j  then,  what 
is  left,  as  the  nature  of  baptism  1  What  is  God's  act, 
and  what  the  soul's  experience  in  this  primary  Christian 
ordinance  1 

To  this  inquiry  I  now  proceed  to  seek  for  such  an 
answer  as  may  be  consonant  with  the  intent  and  mean- 
ing of  those  precious  Scriptures  of  Truth  which  God 
hath  given  us — the  richest  treasury  of  all  accessible  Di- 
vine knowledge. 

I.  And,  in  the  first  place,  I  invite  attention  to  what  I 
must  consider  the  false  Canon  of  Interpretation,*  which 
has  been  applied  to  the  text,  John,  iii.,  5,  by  way  of  fur- 
nishing a  key.  to  unlock  the  meaning  of  all  other  passages 
on  the  subject  of  baptism.  In  fashioning  and  using  this 
key,  the  awful  mystery  of  baptismal  regeneration,  as  it 
has  been  stated,  is  first  virtually  assumed  j  then  this  text 
is  cited  as  a  passage  which  teaches  that  mystery ;  and, 
finally,  with  the  key  thus  fashioned,  the  meaning  of  num- 
berless other  passages  is  unlocked,  some  of  which,  in- 

*  Says  Dr.  Pusey,  "  The  words  of  our  Lord,  '  Birth /roj?i  above  of  water 
and  the  Spirit,'  are  a  key  to  other  Scripture ;  they  are  in  themselves  a  high 
revelation,  not  to  be  closed  up  when  we  come  to  read  other  Scripture,  and' 
their  fullness  restrained  within  themselves  (as  if,  like  the  heretics  of  old,  we 
looked  upon  different  portions  of  Scripture  as  the  work  of  another  God)» 
bat  flowing  over  into  other  parts,  and  imparting  to  them  the  light  which 
they  contain  concentrated  within  them." — {On  Bapt.,  Tract  67,  p.  44,  N.  Y.) 

Again :  speaking,  of  certain  early  writers,  he  says,  "  Not  only  did  they 
understand  the  words,  '  water  and  the  Spirit'  of  baptism,  but  they  regarded 
them  as  a  sort  of  key  to  the  rest  of  Holy  Scripture  which  any  way  bore  on 
the  same  subjects." — {Idem,  p.  31.) 

And  again  :  "  This  was  tb^  general  interpretation  of  the  ancient  ChuTcb  ; 
those  who  quote  the  text  of  baptism  go  not  about  to  prove  its  refereno<»  to 
it ;  they  asswne  it,  see  it,"  &cc. — {Idem,  p.  46.) 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  177 

deed,  allude  to  baptism,  though  others  of  them  carry  no 
allusion  to  this  ordinance. 

The  same  false  Canon  of  Interpretation  is  applied  in 
settling  the  meaning  of  Scripture  on  the  subject  of  the 
Lord's  Supper.  What  Christ  says,  in  John,  vi.,  of  "  eat- 
ing His  Jlesh  and  drinking  His  blood,^^  is  assumed  to  be 
spoken  of  actually  eating  and  drinking  His  flesh  and 
blood  in  that  sacrament ;  and  then  all  other  Scripture 
on  the  subject  is  forced  to  take,  whether  it  naturally 
will  or  not,  the  meaning  thus  arbitrarily  assumed. 

It  is  not  asserted  that  a  single  text  may  never  become 
a  key  to  the  sense  of  all  other  texts  on  the  same  sub- 
ject. The  falseness  of  the  canon  in  question  arises  not 
from  the  single  circumstance  of  arguing  from  the  mean- 
ing of  one  text  to  that  of  others.  This  is  sometimes  ad- 
missible. When  a  single  text  announces  a  doctrine,  in 
itself  salutary  and  reasonable,  or  not  absurd  and  impos- 
sible, and  announces  it  in  terms,  about  which  there  can 
be  no  difl'erence  of  opinion,  in  terms  which  can  not  pos- 
sibly or  reasonably  be  understood  but  in  one  sense,  then 
that  text  is  a  key  to  all  others  on  the  same  subject, pro- 
vided  these  others  reasonably  admit  of  more  than  one  sense, 
or  of  a  sense  harmonious  with  that  of  the  key.  If,  in- 
deed, these  other  texts  themselves  admit  of  but  one  possi- 
ble or  reasonable  sense,  and  this  a  flat  contradiction  to 
the  meaning  of  the  first,  then  the  authority  of  the  book 
in  which  they  are  found  is  annihilated  ;  for  two  portions 
of  God's  Truth  never  may,  never  can  flatly  contradict 
each  other.* 

*  To  illustrate  the  principle  advanced.  In  Deuteronomy,  vi.,  4,  it  is 
said,  ''inx  m'n'  irrl'7X  niri';"  literally,  "Jehovah,  our  God,  is  one 

Jehovah."  Now  this  can  not  be  understood  but  in  one  sense.  This 
one  sense  is  good,  vitally  important,  and  agreeable  to  pure  reason.  This, 
therefore,  is  a  key-text ;  and  all  others  in  the  Bible  on  the  same  subject  must 
be  explained  into  harmony  with  this.  When,  therefore,  we  find  a  multitude 
of  other  texts  which  speak  of  this  Jehovah  as  Father,  as  Son,  and  as  Holy 


178  TIIK    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

But  when  a  meaning  is  arbitrarily  imposed  on  a  text 
which  admits  of  a  different  sense,  and  may  reasonably 
be  understood  otherwise,  especially  when  the  assumed 
meaning  involves  a  doctrine  which  is,  if  not  pernicious, 
yet  useless,  and  if  not  absurd,  yet  loaded  with  infinite 
embarrassment  ;  and  when,  with  the  meaning  thus  fix- 
ed, men  approach  as  with  the  key  of  infallibility,  to 
explain  all  other  passages  touching  the  same  subject, 
albeit  these  others  reasonahly  admit  of  a  different  mean- 
ing, expecting  the  moment  their  key  is  applied  they  will 
all  fly  open  at  its  touch,  and  receive  a  flood  of  light 
into  their  previous  darkness ;  then,  unquestionably, 
they  adopt  a  false  canon  of  interpretation  ;  and  the 
common  sense  of  the  reflecting  world  turns  Protestant 
against  the  violence  thus  done  to  all  sound  laws  of  her- 
meneutics. 

Now  this  is  done  in  explaining,  or,  rather,  fixing,  the 
sense  of  the  text,  John,  iii.,  5.  True,  a  somewhat  im- 
posing effort  is  made  to  give  color  to  the  meaning  put 
upon  the  passage  ;  but,  after  all,  it  amounts  but  to  an  as- 
sumption of  a  meaning,  and  then  goes  on  to  a  virtual 
forcing  of  the  meaning  thus  assumed  upon  all  other  texts 
on  the  subject  of  baptism.  The  meaning  itself,  as  as- 
sumed, is  thus  expressed  :  "  This  is  our  new  birth,  an 
actual  birth  of  God,  of  water  and  the  Spirit,  as  we  are 
actually  born  of  our  natural  parents  ;"*  or,  differently, 
thus:  "This  reofeneration  is  the  beinof  born  of  water 

Ghost,  as  these  do  not  contradict  the  key-text,  and  as  they,  too,  carry  a  rea- 
sonable and  vitally  important  sense,  they  must  be  explained  into  a  harmony 
with  that  text ;  as  thus :  in  the  one  Jehovah  there  are  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Ghost ;  and  these  being  three  in  person,  are  one  in  substance.  The  es- 
sential, indestructible,  and  indivisible  xmity  of  Jehovah  consists  in  a  myste- 
rious but  blessed  trinity  of  persons.  If,  however,  there  were  a  single  text 
in  the  Bible  which  said,  "  Jehovah,  our  God,  is  two  Jehovahs,"  it  would  de- 
stroy the  whole  authority  of  the  Bible  as  an  alleged  revelation.  It  would 
make  the  Bible  a  flatly  self-contradicting  book. 
*  Pusey  on  Baptism,  Tract  67,  p.  24. 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  1^ 

and  the  Spirit,"  or  "  by  God's  Spirit  again  moving  on 
the  face  of  the  waters,  and  sanctifying  them  for  our 
cleansing,  and  cleansing  us  thereby  j"*  or,  more  fully, 
thus:  "This  birth  from  above  is  an  actual  birth  from 
God,  a  gift  coming  down  from  God,  and  given  to  faith 
through  baptism  j  yet  not  the  work  of  faith,  but  the 
operation  '  of  water  and  the  Holy  Spirit  ;'  '  the  Holy 
Spirit  giving  us  a  new  life  in  the  fountain  opened  by 
Him  ;  and  we  being  born  therein  of  Him,  even  as  our 
blessed  and  incarnate  Lord  was,  according  to  the  flesh, 
born  of  Him  in  the  Virgin's  womb :'  '  the  gift  of  God, 
illimitable  and  incomprehensible  as  that  great  mystery 
from  which  it  flows,  the  incarnation  of  our  Redeemer.'  "f 

Such  being  the  meaning  put  upon  the  text,  the  prin- 
cipal reasons  assigned  for  it  are  two  :  1.  That  it  is 
therein  said  we  must  be  horn  from  above  (avGJ0€v),J  and 
*'o/"  water  and  the  Spirit,"  as,  in  our  ordinary  birth,  we 
are  born  of  our  natural  parents;  and,  2.  That  such  is 
the  meaning  put  o.n  the  passage  by  a  long  catalogue  of 
ancient  writers  and  liturgies. § 

Now  of  these  reasons,  the  former  is  simply  a  naked 
assumption.  The  very  thing  to  be  ascertained  is,  what 
is  the  meaning  of  the  expressions  "  born  again"  and 
born  "of  water  and  the  Spirit  V  To  say,  therefore, 
that  they  carry  the  meaning  assigned  them,  is  but  to 
assume  a  meaning  without  reason.     The  latter,  however, 

*  Puscy  on  Baptism,  Tract  07,  p.  47,  48.  f  Idem,  p.  43. 

t  Nicodemus,  however,  as  it  appears,  did  not  understand  (h'u)Oc:v  in  this 
sense,  as  a  spiritual  birth  fro7n  above.  He  supposed  our  Savior  to  imply 
that  "  a  man  must  enter  a  second  tune  into  his  mother's  womb,  and  be  born." 
This  shows  that  the  sense  of  avij}Oci>  (or,  rather,  of  its  synonym  in  Hebrew- 
Chaldaic,  as  the  dialect  probably  used  in  this  interview  with  Chtist),  was 
that  of  denuo,  anew,  or  a  second  tune,  and  not  that  of  desupcr,  from  above. 
It  is  true  that,  on  the  whole,  Nicodemus  misunderstood  Christ;  and  yet  his 
very  misunderstanding  of  the  general  meaning  of  the  Savior  shows  the  sense 
of  the  word  avujdu;  at  least  in  this  particular  place. 

i)  Pasey  on  Baptism,  Tract  67,  p  24  to  48,  passim. 


180  THE   NATURE    OF   BAPTISIW. 

of  the  two  alleged  reasons  certainly  does  show  that  the 
sense  assigned  actually  has  been  put  upon  the  passage, 
and  that  it  has  the  authority  of  many  and  grave  names  j 
but  it  does  not  show  that  this  is  necessarily  the  true 
sense.  No  one  deserving  the  Christian  name  denies 
that  we  must  "  be  born  again  of  water  and  the  Spirit." 
Nor  are  many  disposed  to  deny  that  the  birth  of  water, 
spoken  of  in  the  text^  means  baptism.  But^  then,  multi- 
tudes, the  authority  of  whose  names  is,  perhaps,  as 
weighty  as  that  of  any,  at  least  since  the  times  of  the 
apostolic  fathers,  do  deny  that  the  expression  "  born  of 
the  Spirit''^  bears  the  meaning  here  assigned  to  it.  They 
do  deny,  too^  that  the  effect  which  this  meaning  involves 
follows  baptism  as  its  source  or  cause.  This  is  the  very 
question  to  be  determined.  If,  therefore,  the  meaning 
"  assumed"  for  this  expression,  and  "  seen'''  in  it,  though 
not  '■'■proved''''  of  it,  be  a  wrong  meaning,  then  it  matters 
not  how  many  writers,  or  how  many  liturgies,  have  been 
Goncerned  in  thus  assuming  and  seeing  what  they  at- 
tempt not  "  to  proved  There  have  been  ages,  not  very 
modern,  when  both  individual  writers,  and  scattered 
churches  using  liturgies,  were  prone  to  incorporate  some 
errors  among  the  mass  of  truths  which  they  doubtless 
held  j  and,  under  such  circumstances,  a  wrong  meaning 
of  the  text,  though  "assumed"  and  "seen"  ten  thou- 
sand times,  does  not  thereby  become  the  right  meaning. 

Notwithstanding,  then,  these  alleged  reasons  for  the 
meaning  assigned  to  the  text,  it  is,  in  fact,  an  arbitrari- 
ly-assumed meaning.  Abstractly,  it  might  be  a  right^  or 
it  might  be  a  wrong  meaning,  ^ni  practically,  whether 
it  be  right  or  wrong,  is  the  very  question  to  be  decided  ; 
it  must  be  decided  according  to  just  laws  of  interpreta- 
tion ;  and  these  laws  oblige  us  to  look  at  any  meaning 
proposed  before  we  adopt  it  as  the  true. 

Let  us,  then,  look  at  the  meaning  proposed  in  the 


THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM.  181 

present  case.  It  comes  briefly  to  this:  that  in  baptism 
the  infant  is  born  of  "sanctifying"  water  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  even  as  Christ  was  born  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
in  the  womb  of  the  Virgin  ;  insomuch  that,  by  "  an  il- 
limitable and  incomprehensible  mystery,"  it  thereby  be- 
comes "a  partaker  in  the  incarnation."  Now,  it  is 
fearlessly  asserted  that  this  is  neither  a  salutary  nor  a 
reasonable  sense  of  the  words.  The  reason  which  God 
has  given  to  every  man,  and  the  history  which  God  has 
written  of  every  age  of  his  Church,  justify  the  asser- 
tion. It  is  a  sense  which  nourishes  a  mischievously 
superstitious  regard  for,  and  use  of,  both  the  Christian 
ordinances  J  and  is,  at  the  same  time,  a  sense  which 
supposes  such  a  moral  impossibility  as  burdens  the 
Scriptures  with  an  intolerable  load  of  difficulties  More- 
over, it  is  not  a  necessary  sense  of  the  words  ;  not  the 
only  sense  which  they  will  bear ;  not  an  actually  undis- 
puted sense  ;  not  a  sense  which  resistlessly  shuts  out  an- 
other and  a  better  meaning.  Fearlessly,  therefore,  is  it 
asserted,  that  the  process  by  which  this  sense  is  reach- 
ed involves  a  false  canon  of  interpretation.  It  is  forcing 
on  a  text  which  may  have  another  and  a  better  mean- 
ing, a  sense  which  carries  in  it  the  seed  of  that  mon- 
ster-absurdity and  impossibility,  Transubstantiation  ;  and 
then  boldly  claiming  that  the  sense  so  assumed  shall  be 
received  as  an  i7ifallible  key  (or  opening  the  meaning  of 
all  other  texts  on  the  subject  of  baptism.  Nothing  more 
need  be  said  to  show  that  such  a  process  of  interpreta- 
tion is  fundamentally  wrong  ;  and  that  if,  in  any  case,  it 
ever  reach  the  truth,  it  must  be  by  accident,  and  not  by 
following  a  safe  or  luminous  guide. 

The  true  Canon  of  Interpretation  for  settling  the 
meaning  of  a  disputed  text  (which,  for  the  very  reason 
that  it  is  disputed,  must  admit  of  another  sense  than 
any  arbitrarily  assumed  for  it)  is  the  direct  opposite 

Q 


182  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

to  that  just  exposed.  It  consists  in  first  "searching 
the  Scriptures"  for  the  analogy  of  faith  or  doctrine 
on  the  subject  involved,  and  then,  by  this  analogy,  ex- 
plaining the  particular  passage  in  question.  In  all  cases 
where  the  sense  of  a  particular  passage  is  doubtful,  it 
is  certainly  right  that  it  should  yield  to  the  general 
analogy  of  Scripture ,  and  certainly  wrong  that  the 
whole  analogy  of  Scripture  should  be  forced  to  yield 
to  it. 

I  have,  then,  already  shown,  at  length,  that  the  mean- 
ing which  we  have  seen  imposed  on  this  text  is  part  of 
a  great  system  of  theology,  which  necessarily  pushes 
itself  back  to  the  fall  of  man,  and  discovers  there  an 
idea  of  original  righteousness  and  original  sin  wholly 
unknown,  and  altogether  opposed,  both  to  the  Bible  and 
to  our  Articles ;  and  that,  therefore,  we  are  not  only 
justified  in  rejecting,  but  bound  to  reject,  not  only  that 
false  notion  of  original  righteousness  and  original  sin, 
but  also  its  inseparably  associated  error  of  baptismal  re- 
generation itself.  We  are  not  at  liberty,  as  consistent 
theologians,  to  reject  that  false  notion  of  original  right- 
eousness and  original  sin,  and  yet  retain  this  twin-born 
theory  of  baptismal  regeneration.  If  we  can  not  hold 
the  former^  we  must  not  cling  to  the  latter.  The  texts 
which  relate  to  baptism,  we  not  only  may^  but  must^  in- 
terpret into  harmony  with  that  other  great  system  of 
theology  which  necessarily  comes  in  as  antagonist  with 
that  which  we  have  rejected. 

Through  a  somewhat  extended  axamination  of  texts 
which  have,  or  are  alleged  to  have,  a  connection  with 
the  subject  of  baptism,  we  have  already  passed.  Upon 
an  examination  of  others,  more  important,  we  are  now 
to  enter.  .■n 

1.  I  begin  with  the  account  of  the  baptism  of  Christ 
(Matt.,  iii.,  13-16),  because  our  Church,  in  her  baptis- 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  189 

mal  office,  says  that  God,  "  by  the  baptism  of  His  well- 
beloved  Son  in  the  River  Jordan,  did  sanctify  water  to 
the  mystical  washing  away  of  sin  ;"  and  because  of  the 
peculiar  view  which  the  advocates  of  baptismul  regen- 
eration take  of  this  baptism  of  Him  who  was  the  Insti- 
tutor  of  the  ordinance  into  the  nature  of  which  we  are 
inquiring.  By  the  language  of  our  Church,  "  did  sanc- 
tify water  to  the  mystical  washing  away  of  sin,"  I  under- 
stand, according  to  the  usual  sense  of  the  word  "  sanc- 
tify^'' when  applied  to  external  things,  "  did  separate  and 
set  apart  that  element  to  be  a  seal  of  the  pardon  of  sin 
on  the  terms  of  the  Gospel,  and  a  symbol  of  purification 
from  sin  by  the  influences  of  the  Spirit."  But  the  ad- 
vocates for  the  theory  of  baptismal  regeneration,  as 
here  understood,  give  a  very  different  significancy  to 
these  words  of  our  ritual,  and  a  very  different  eflect  to 
the  baptism  of  Christ,  on  which  they  are  founded. 
They  suggest  that  the  design  of  His  baptism  may  have 
been  "to  fulfill  all  righteousness"  by  cleansing  the  sin- 
ful nature,  in  the  likeness  of  which  He  had  come,  and 
to  impart  to  it,  as  a  whole,  the  righteousness  which  He 
should  afterward  communicate,  one  by  one,  to  those 
who  came  to  the  baptism  which  He  had  thus  conse- 
crated." They  say  that  the  early  Christians  "doubted 
not  that  the  very  element  had,  by  its  contact  with  Him, 
in  this  His  condescension,  received  a  degree  of  sanc- 
tity and  fitness  to  be  a  vehicle  of  spiritual  gifts ;"  and 
that  "  His  baptism  received  the  gifts  which  were  be- 
stowed upon  ours,  and  was  to  us  the  pledge  and  first 
channel  of  those  gifts."* 

Now  all  this  is  mere  theory  ;  a  theory  which  one  has 

a  right  to  construct  if  he  choose,  but  still  mere  theory. 

Having  fashioned  the  idea  of  the  "opus  operatum"  in 

baptism,  of  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  water,  and 

*  Pusey  on  Baptism,  Tract  67,  p.  221,  224,  225. 


184  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

the  mystery  of  incorporation  into  the  body  of  the  Incar- 
nate Son,  it  is  easy  to  impose  it,  by  way  of  addition, 
upon  any  text  that  mentions  baptism.  But  to  add  a 
sense  to  a  text  is  not  to  find  that  sense  in  a  text ;  and 
this  were  enough  to  say,  even  if  the  sense  added  were 
intellisfible  and  sfood.  It  is  more  than  is  needed,  when 
that  sense  is  scarcely  the  one  or  the  other.  What  may 
be  meant  by  the  baptism  of  Christ  "  cleansing  that  sin- 
ful nature  in  the  {sinless)  likeness  of  which  He  had 
come,"  or  by  its  "  imparting  to  our  nature,  as  a  whole, 
that  righteousness  which  he  should  afterward  communi- 
cate, one  by  one,  to  those  who  came  to  the  baptism  which 
he  had  thus  consecrated,"  or  by  "the  very  elements 
receiving  a  degree  of  sanctity  and  fitness  to  become  a 
vehicle  of  spiritual  gifts,"  because  a  portion  of  the  Jor- 
dan once  came  in  "  contact  with  Him,"  it  is,  I  confess, 
difficult  to  conceive  ;  although  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the 
sense,  so  darkly  shadowed  forth,  can  not  minister  much 
to  any  thing  but  superstition  in  using  the  sensible  things 
of  religion.  This  sense  may  minister  to  a  deep  and 
trembling  awe  in  view  of  a  supposed  "  overwhelming 
mystery,"  but  it  can  not  impart  to  the  ordinance  of  bap- 
tism the  efficacy  which  it  ascribes.  It  is  enough  to  say 
of  it,  it  is  a  sense  not  found  in  the  account  which  the 
evangelist  gives  of  the  baptism  of  Christ.  What  that 
baptism  actually  was,  I  leave  to  be  seen  jn  the  simple 
phrase  in  which  the  Bible  expresses  it. 

2.  I  pass  to  another  passage,  which  deserves  a  brief 
notice  here,  not  because  it  has  any  thing  to  do  with 
baptism,  but  because  such  a  reference  in  it  is  boldly  as- 
serted by  the  advocates  of  baptismal  regeneration.*  I 
refer  to  the  12th  and  13th  verses  of  the  first  chapter  of 
the  Gospel  according  to  John.  "  As  many  as  received 
Him,  to  them  gave  He  power  to  become  the  sons  of 
*  Pusey  on  Baptism,  Tract  67,  p.  31. 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  185 

God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on  His  name  ;  which 
were  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor 
of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God."  Here,  because  it  is 
said  that  those  who  "  received  Christ,"  or  "  believed  on 
His  name,"  were  '■'■born  of  God,''''  \i  is  assumed  that  they 
were  thus  born  in  and  of  the  waters  of  baptism  y  and  that 
their  birth  consisted  in  an  impartaiion  of  the  Divine 
substance,  or  nature,  in  and  of  those  waters.  But,  in 
the  first  place,  this  would  make  against  infant  baptism  ; 
for,  in  the  evangelist,  the  birth  is  predicated  of  those  only 
who  believed  on  Christ,  and  infants  can  not  so  believe. 
In  the  second  place,  however,  the  meaning  given  to  the 
passage  is  again  mere  assumption.  There  is  no  reason 
for  supposing  that  baptism  is  here  implied  or  under- 
stood as  a  source,  jointly  with  God,  of  the  birth  declared. 
The  evangelist  had  just  been  speaking  of  the  rejection 
of  Christ  by  his  "own  cuuntrynien"  (ot  iStoi),  through 
their  unbelief;  they  "  received  Him  not,"  or  believed 
not  on  Him.  To  these  He  immediately  opposes  those 
"  who  received  him  by  believing  on  His  name."  Of  these 
He  says,  "  They  were  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will 
of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man ;"  this  work  was  of 
no  human  agency,  '■'■  bzit  of  God  j'"  and  to  these  he  says, 
Christ  "  gave  power,"  or  the  privilege,  "  to  become  the 
sons  of  God."  All  this  certainly  does  prove  that  the 
new  birth,  one  of  the  principal  steps  in  which  I  have  all 
along  observed  to  be  faith,  is  a  Divine  work,  wrought 
by  the  sole  agency  of  God's  Spirit.  But  to  assume  that 
this  work  is  wrought  in  baptism,  and  that  it  is  the  birth 
q/"  water,  as  being,  with  the  Spirit,  its  joint  source,  is  but 
to  force  a  sense  upon  Scripture,  whether  it  will  take  it 
or  not.  It  is,  after  all,  but  to  add  strength  to  a  human 
theory  by  the  prop  of  mere  human  weakness.  The 
passage  is  heavy  with  importance  ;  but  its  importance 
weighs  wholly  against  the  theory  into  a  support  of 
Q2 


186  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

which  it  is  pressed.  It  shows  that  the  birth  from  God  in- 
volves the  exercise  oi faith  in  its  subject ;  and  that  the  Bi- 
ble impliedly  separates  it  from  its  symbol  in  baptism. 

3.  The  next  passage  which  I  take  up  is  found  in  1  Cor., 
xii.,  13  :  "By  one  Spirit  we  are  all  baptized  into  one  body." 
At  first  sight,  this  seems  to  teach  that  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  the 
baptism  by  ivatcr,  does  bring  us  into  spiritual  union  with 
Christ.  But  I  suggest  whether,  on  closer  examination,  this 
may  not  prove  a  groundless  inference.  There  is  nothing  in 
this  connection  to  show  ihat  baptism  by  water  is  here  in- 
tended ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  much  to  prove  that  the  refer- 
ence is  to  that  inward  work  of  the  Spirit,  of  which  the  water 
in  baptism  is  but  the  divinely-appointed  symhoL 

That  there  is  a  baptism  without  water  can  not  be  denied. 
"  I,  indeed,  baptize  you  with  water  unto  repentance,"  said 
the  herald  John,  "  but  He  that  cometh  after  me,"  &c., 
"shall  baptize  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire." — 
Matt.,  iii.,  11.  Literally  was  this  fulfilled  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  when  fire,  not  water,  was  the  symbol  of  the  mar- 
vel which  the  Spirit  wrought.*     And,  substantially,  is  it 

♦  This  expression,  "  He  shall  baptize  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with 
fire."  throws  light  on  the  meaning  of  the  phrase,  "  born  of  water  and  of  the 
Spirit."  No  one,  I  think,  will  deny  that  the  ''fiery  cloven  tongues,"  which 
marked  the  baptism  with  the  Holy  Ghost  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  fultillmg 
thus  the  words  which  the  Baptist  spake  of  Christ  (Matt.,  iii.,  11),  were  a 
symbol  of  the  Spirit's  influences  in  endowing  the  apostles  with  the  miracu- 
lous power  of  speaking  various  languages.  If,  then,  to  be  "  baptized  with 
fire"  is  to  receive  a  symbol  of  one  class  of  the  Spirit's  influences,  it  follows 
clearly  that  to  be  baptized  "  with  water"  is  to  receive  a  symbol  of  another 
class  of  the  Spirit's  influences.  Nor  will  it  follow  that,  because  the 
miraculous  gift  accovipanied  its  appropriate  symbol,  therefore  the  ordinary  gift 
must  also  accompany  the  symbol  in  which  it  is  represented.  For  it  is  es- 
sential to  the  proof  oi  a  miracle,  that  the  symbol,  or  token,  which  evidences 
it  to  be  a  miracle,  should  be  sinndtaneous  with  that  of  which  it  is  an  evi- 
dence. No  such  necessity  as  this  ties  the  symbol  of  ivater  to  the  ordinary 
influences  of  the  Spirit  which  it  represents.  Or,  if  men  will  insist  that 
baptism  Itself,  as  well  as  the  gift  of  tongues,  is  a  miracle,  let  them  prove  it 
such  (as  this  thing  ever  must  be  proved)  by  showing  the  miraculous  effect, 
and  the  symbol  which  demonstrates  it,  to  be  inseparably  simultaneous. 


THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM.  187 

ever  fulfilled  when  the  same  Divine  Agent  brings  the  soul, 
by  repentance  and  faith,  to  Christ,  and  to  newness  of  heart 
and  life.  There  is  an  inward  work  on  the  soul — a  work  of 
power  and  love,  of  quickening  and  life-warm  energy,  of 
transforming,  yet  of  ordinary  grace — which  is  called  a  bap- 
tism, doubtless  because  the  baptism  by  water  is  its  appoint- 
ed symbol.  This  inward  work  of  the  Spirit,  whenever  ef- 
fected through  the  Word  of  God,  and  the  holy  light  which 
this  Word  sheds  around  the  mind,  may,  with  truth  and  force, 
be  called  a  baptism.  The  figurative  use  of  this  word  has 
been  carried  even  farther  than  this,  by  the  highest  and  best 
authority,  that  of  the  Divine  Savior  himself.  "  I  have  a 
baptism  to  be  baptized  with,"  said  Christ,  in  view  of  his 
bloody  cross. — Luke,  xii.,  50.  "  Are  ye  able  to  be  baptiz- 
ed with  the  baptism  that  I  am  baptized  with  ?"  (Matt.,  xx., 
22)  was  his  inquiry  of  the  disciples  whose  ambitious  moth- 
er would  have  them  to  be  distinguished  in  their  Master's 
kingdom ;  little  dreaming  that  martyrdom  would  be  the  first 
and  brightest  crown  awarded  in  this  life  to  the  foremost 
subjects  of  such  a  King. 

With  our  minds  thus  familiar,  then,  with  this  beautifully 
and  forcibly  ^^«raht"e  use  of  the  word  baptism,  let  us  look 
at  the  passage  just  cited  from  Corinthians.  It  occurs  in  the 
apostle's  discourse  on  the  subject  of  that  essential,  intimate, 
close,  spiritual  union  which  exists  between  all  Christians, 
whether  "  Jew  or  Gentile,  bond  or  free,"  and  Christ  their 
Divine  Head ;  a  union  which  always  characterizes  the  true 
spiritual  body  of  Christ,  and  which,  therefore,  ought  always 
to  characterize  what  is  visible  of  that  body  in  the  Church. 
Speaking  of  the  various  gifts  by  which  this  body  was  then 
distinguished,  by  way  of  preparing  for  that  most  divine  dis- 
course which  follows  in  the  next  chapter,  about  charity,  or 
holy  love,  as  the  "  very  bond  of  perfectness,"  which  is  to 
tie  the  members  of  Christ  in  heaven,  whew  faith  and  hope 
shall  have  gone  out  in  sight  and  in  fruition,  the  apostle  says, 


188  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

using  one  of  his  customary  striking  figures,  "  For,  as  the 
(human)  body  is  one,  and  hath  many  members,  and  all  the 
members  of  that  one  body,  being  many,  are  one  body,  so 
also  is  Christ.  For,  by  one  Spirit  we  are  all  baptized  into 
one  body,  whether  we  be  Jews  or  Gentiles,  whether  we  be 
bond  or  free  ;  and  have  all  been  made  to  drink  into  one 
Spirit."—!  Cor.,  xii.,  12,  13. 

Now,  the  whole  of  this  is  figurative  speech ;  that  is,  the 
literal  human  body — animated,  of  course,  by  the  living  hu- 
man soul — is  used  as  a  strong  figure  of  the  myslical  body  of 
Christ,  filled  with  that  Holy  Spirit  by  whom  its  members 
are  cemented  into  indissoluble  union.  Hence,  doubtless, 
the  baptism  spoken  of  is  that  inward  baptism  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  which  has  its  appointed  symbol,  indeed,  in  the  bap- 
tism by  water,  but  which,  as  we  have  so  often  seen,  has  no 
connection  with  it  as  its  operated  result.  The  true  force  of 
the  passage  may  be  thus  expressed  in  paraphrase  :  "  By 
one  Divine  Spirit,  all  real  Christians,  of  whatever  nation  or 
name,  are  closely  united  as  members  in  that  one  spiritual 
body,  of  which  Christ  is  the  Head ;  and  this  work  of  the 
Spirit  may  be  called  a  baptism,  because  it  has  its  appointed 
symbol  in  that  primary  Christian  ordinance." 

The  whole  of  the  passage  is  so  incontestably  a  strong, 
ho\6.  figure  of  speech,  that  it  would  evidently  be  as  great  a 
violence  to  language  to  quote  it  as  explanatory  of  the  na- 
ture of  infant  baptism  by  water,  as  it  would  be  to  quote  what 
Christ  said  of  his  coming  bloody  baptism  on  the  Cross,  as 
though  it  had  been  spoken  of  his  past  literal  baptism  in  the 
Jordan.  Even,  however,  if  we  were  to  admit  that  the  liter- 
al baptism  could  have  been  intended  in  this  very  heart  of 
an  enclosing  figure,  it  would  still  remain  for  inquiry.  What 
is  the  actual  work  of  the  Spirit  in  connection  with  that  lit- 
eral baptism  ?  To  this  inquiry,  however,  I  am  not  yet  ready 
to  attend.  For  the  present  1  must  proceed  with  this  ex- 
amination of  passages. 


THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM.  189 

4.  I  take  up  next,  for  a  few  remarks,  what  is  found  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  v.,  25-27  :  "  Husbands,  love 
your  wives,  even  as  Christ  also  loved  the  Church,  and  gave 
Himself  for  it,  that  He  might  sanctify  and  cleanse  it  toilh 
the  washing  of  water  by  the  Word ;  that  He  might  present 
it  to  Himself  a  glorious  Church,  not  having  spot,  or  wrinkle, 
or  any  such  thing ;  but  that  it  should  be  holy,  and  without 
blemish." 

The  author  of  the  celebrated  treatise  on  baptism  so  often 
quoted  observes,  "  As  it  is  a  melancholy  mark  of  our  times, 
that  a  portion  of  *  the  world'  has  already  begun  to  shrink  from 
this  comparison  between  the  relations  of  marriage  and  those 
of  Christ  to  His  Church,  so  it  is,  undoubtedly,  not  uncon- 
nected with  it,  but  a  part  of  the  same  state  of  feeling  which 
depreciates  baptism,  thus  connected  by  St.  Paul  with  it."* 
After  this,  he  endeavors  to  show,  and  cites  various  post- 
Nicene  writers  as  favoring  his  view,  that  baptism  is  that 
mysterious  fountain  of  cleansing  and  sanctification  to  the 
Church  from  which  she  is  at  once  presented  to  Christ 
"  wholly  cleansed  ;"  that,  however  there  may  be  an  "  ulte- 
rior purity,"  to  which  the  Church,  "  in  her  triumphant  state," 
is  to  be  advanced,  still,  "  the  end  of  the  cleansing"  (in  bap- 
tism) "  is,  that  she  might  abide  sanctified,  spotless,  unblem- 
ished," being,  in  this  sacrament,  "once  wholly  cleansed  ;"t 
and  that  the  instrumentality  of  "  the  Word,'''  as  mentioned 
in  this  passage,  is  immediately  connected  with  "  the  wash- 
ing of  water  ;"  being  the  power  of  Christ  in  the  baptismal 
formula,  and  not  in  the  truths  of  Revelation,  written  and 
preached. I 

But  what  a  violence  upon  language  is  this !  The  whole 
force  of  this  passage  may  be  thus  expressed  :  "  Husbands, 
love  your  wives,  as  Christ  loved  the  Church,  and  gave 
Himself  for  it,  that,  having  cleansed  it  emblematically,  by 
the  washing  of  water.  He  might,  progressively  and  really, 
*  Tract  67,  p.  152.  t  Tract  67,  p.  154,  155.         %  Tract  67,  p.  160. 


190  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

sanctify  it  ly  the  Word ;  and  that  thus,  in  her  future  glori- 
fied state,  He  might  at  last  present  it  to  Himself,  spotless 
and  unwrinkled,  holy  and  without  blemish."  Where,  in  all 
this,  is  the  idea  of  Christ's  presenting  to  Himself  the  Church 
spotless  from  the  very  bath  of  baptism  ?  Not  to  be  found. 
Besides,  the  instrumentality  which  the  apostle  here  assigns 
to  "  the  Word"  is  evidently  the  same  with  that  which  Christ 
Himself  assigns  to  it  in  his  last  prayer,  when  he  says, 
"  Sanctify  them  by  thy  truth  :  thy  Word*  is  truth." — John, 
xvii.,  17.  "  The  washing  of  water"  is  evidently  referred  to 
as  the  baptismal  emblem  of  what  Christ  really  efiects  by 
his  Spirit,  through  the  subsequent  instrumentality  of  his 
Word.  Hence,  the  really  instrumental  character  of  "  the 
Word"  is  so  plainly  indicated  by  the  peculiar  form  of  the 
expression,  ^^  with  the  washing  of  water  by  the  Word  :"t 
"  with  the  washing  of  water"  emblematically  representing, 
"by  the  Word"  instrumentally  eflecting  the  divinely- cleans- 
ing process.  In  infancy,  baptism  first  symbolizes,  and  then, 
through  subsequent  life,  the  Spirit,  in  the  use  of  the  Word 
of  Truth,  effects,  carries  forward,  and  finally  perfects  the  in- 
ward sanctification  of  the  soul  ;  and  thus,  each  individual 
being  made  holy,  the  whole  Church,  as  one  body,  shall  at 
length,  in  her  glorified  state,  be  presented  by  Christ  to  Him- 
self, as  his  spotless  and  divinely-adorned  bride,  to  spend 
with  Him  an  eternity  of  perfect  blessedness.  This  futurity 
of  the  Church's  spotlessness  will  become  more  evident  by 
studying  the  verses  which  immediately  follow. 

"  So  ought  men  to  love  their  wives  as  their  own  bodies. 
(He  that  loveth  his  wife  loveth  himself;)  for  no  man  ever 
yet  hated  his  own  flesh,  but  nourisheth  and  cherisheth  it, 

*  The  difference  between  f»U'a,  in  the  apostle's  phrase,  and  Xrfyoj  in  that 
of  Christ,  is  unessential,  as  any  scholar  will  be  convinced  who  examines 
Dr.  Pusey's  most  unsatisfactory  criticism  and  references,  on  the  ICOth  p. 
of  the  N.  Y.  ed.  of  his  Tract  on  Baptism. 

t  Tu)  Xoi)T/3(p  Tov  vSaToi,  fV  ftiijxaTi ;  the  last  word  having  the  preposition  pre- 
fixed ;  the  first  being  withwit  the  preposition. 


THE  NATURE  OP  BAPTISM.  191 

even  as  the  Lord  the  Church.  For  we  are  members  of  his 
body,  of  his  Jlesh,  and  of  his  hones.  '  For  this  cause  shall  a 
man  leave  his  father  and  mother,  and  shall  be  joined  unto 
his  wife,  and  they  two  shall  be  one  flesh.'  This  is  a  great 
mystery,  but  I  speak  concerning  Christ  and  the  Church." 
— Eph.,  v.,  28-32. 

In  a  note  to  what  the  author  of  the  afore-named  treatise  on 
baptism  says  when  explaining  the  previous  verses,  he  adds, 
among  other  things,  the  following,  in  reference  to  these  lat- 
ter and  connected  verses : 

"  The  words  belong  to  human  marriage  as  a  type ;  but  as 
to  the  antitype,  they  designate  that  which  marriage  also 
designates,  the  relation  of  Christ  to  his  Church.  Marriage 
is  a  mystery,  as  shadowing  out  that  union,  as  having  been, 
in  the  first  instance,  a  hidden  prophecy  of  it,  and  now  be- 
ing an  image  and  reflection  of  it."  "  Marriage  is  a  mys- 
tery, as  portraying  the  union  of  the  Church  with  Christ ;  is 
not  a  sacrament,  as  not  conveying  it."* 

In  other  words,  according  to  this  theory,  the  sacraments 
do  convey  union  with  Christ.  Marriage  does  not  convey 
this  union,  and  therefore  is  not  a  sacrament.  What  this  au- 
thor means  by  union  with  Christ,  we  have  already  seen.  He 
means  a  "  participation  in  the  incarnation  ;"  or  (as  he  says 
when  treating  of  the  Lord's  Supper),  the  flesh  and  blood  of 
Christ  "  commingled  and  co-united  with  the  bodies  and 
souls"  of  Christians,  "  and  preserving  both  for  incorruption."t 
This  union  is  held  to  be  conveyed  and  sustained  by  the 
sacraments,  and  by  the7n  only.  Hence  this  author  speaks  of 
them  as  "  the  means  whereby  he  (Christ)  originally  unites 
her  (the  Church)  to  himself,  or  still  nourishes,  and  cherish- 

♦  Tract  67,  p.  154. 

t  Dr.  Pusey's  Sermon  on  the  Lord's  Supper,  N.  Y.,  p.  9.  Had  the  au- 
thor, in  the  passage  here  referred  to,  been  speaking  of  the  preservation  of 
natural  flesh  from  corruption  by  the  intermixture  with  it  of  what  is  anti- 
septic, he  could  not  have  used  stronger  terms. 


192  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

es,  and  maintains  her  in  that  union."*  Hence  he  quotes 
Chrysostorn  as  saying,  "  In  baptism,  we  are  incorporate  into 
Christ,  and  made  flesh  of  his  flesh,  and  bone  of  his  bone."t 
And  hence  he  says  that  "  the  partaking  of  the  incarnation,^^ 
&c.,  "  is  imparted  through  baptism,  and  is  not  imparted  with- 
out it"X 

From  these  quotations,  it  is  easy  to  gather  the  interpreta- 
tion which  the  author  suggests,  but  does  not  develop,  of  the 
latter  passage  cited  from  the  fifth  of  Ephesians.  In  con- 
formity with  his  explication  of  the  verses  immediately  pre- 
ceding, it  would  run  thus  :  Marriage  is  a  type  of  the  union 
between  Christ  and  his  Church.  As,  therefore,  by  the  mys- 
tery of  marriage,  the  "  twain  become  one  flesh,"  so,  by  the 
mystery  of  baptism,  Christ  and  the  Church  become  "  one 
flesh  ;"  each  individual  member  being  made  therein  "  a  par- 
taker of  the  incarnation  ;"  and  all,  by  the  "  commingling 
and  co-uniting  of  his  flesh  and  blood  with  their  bodies  and 
souls,"  being  made  "  members  of  his  body,  of  his  flesh,  and 
of  his  bones."  Marriage  is  the  shadow  ;  the  substance  lies  in 
this  '•  great  mystery"  "  concerning  Christ  and  the  Church." 

But  does  this  passage  really  convey  such  an  idea  of  the 
union  between  Christ  and  his  Church  ?  A  moment's  ex- 
amination will  show  that  it  does  not.  It  is  no  more  than 
reasonable  that  we  should  judge  of  the  nature  of  that  union 
of  which  marriage  appears  to  be  in  some  sense  a  type,  or 
shadow,  by  looking  at  the  nature  of  the  relation  which  is 
constituted  in  marriage  itself.  In  the  language  of  the  Hom- 
ilies, "If  sacraments  had  not  a  certain  similitude  of  those 
things  whereof  they  be  sacraments,  they  should  be  no  sac- 
raments at  aliy^  The  same  is  true  oi  types.  If  they  have 
not  a  certain  similitude  of  those  things  of  which  they  are 
types,  they  are  no  types  at  all.  What,  then,  is  the  simil- 
itude between  marriage  as  a  type,  and  the  union  of  Christ 

*  Tract  67,  p.  216.  t  Tract  67,  p.  159.  J  Tract  67,  p.  31. 

^  Homily  of  Com.  Pr.  and  Sac.  (N.  Y.,  1815),  p.  296. 


THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM.  193 

«ind  the  Church  as  the  antitype  ?  A  brief  answer  to  this 
question  will  serve  to  throw  light  on  a  point  which  certain 
writers  are  fond  of  wrapping  in  the  darkness  of  profound 
Hiystery. 

The  relation,  then,  between  the  husband  and  his  wife  is 
that  of  a  union  based  on  covenant,  on  a  mutual  engagement 
to  fidelity  each  to  the  other.  The  first  transpiring  of  this 
mutual  contract,  or  the  first  entering  into  it,  is  called  the  he- 
irothmeiit,  or  espousals.  Its  final  solemnization  according  to 
constituted  form  is  termed  tJie  marriage.  And  those  who 
enter  into  this  state  are  regarded  by  the  Word  of  God  as 
one  ;  that  is,  as  united  in  a  covenant,  which  supposes  com- 
mon sympathies,  which  creates  a  common  interest,  and  which, 
when  religiously  understood  and  fulfilled,  looks  forward  to 
a  common  destiny.  Behold,  here,  the  similitude  of  the  type 
to  the  antitype  ;  of  marriage  to  the  union  between  Christ 
and  the  Church !  This  latter  relation,  also,  is  that  of  a 
union  based  on  covenant ;  on  a  mutual  engagement  to  fidel- 
ity between  the  contracting  parties.  This  sacred  union  has 
its  day  of  espousals  in  the  present  life.  The  marriage,  to 
which  it  looks  forward,  is  to  be  celebrated,  in  solemn  and 
royal  state,  on  the  morning  of  the  greatest  day  of  days.  And 
the  parties  who  here  enter  into  this  holy  state  of  covenant 
are  regarded  by  the  Bible  as  already  one ;  that  is,  as  united 
in  a  bond  which  supposes  a  common  love,  which  creates  a 
common  interest,  and  which,  spiritually  understood  and  dis- 
charged, looks  forward  to  a  common  destiny. 

Let  us  see  how  this  matter  lies  in  the  record.  The  cove- 
nant, then,  between  the  Lord  and  His  Church,  under  the 
old  dispensation,  is  termed  a  "  marriage." — Ezek.,  xvi.,  8  ; 
and  Jer.,  iii.,  14.  In  his  character  as  "  Maker  and  Redeem- 
er," the  Lord  styles  himself  the  "  husband"  of  His  ancient 
people. — Isa.,  liv.,  5.  The  time  when  He  entered  into 
covenant  with  that  people  in  particular  is  called  the  time 
of  their  "  espousals." — Jer.,  ii.,  2.     Moreover,  the  covenant^ 

R 


194  THE   NATURE    Of    BAPTISM, 

which  then  united  lh«  Church  t&  her  head,  was  the  ssTim 
with  that  which  sii/l  unites  them.  The  only  difference  isy 
that  it  has  passed  inta  a  new  and  better  economy,  under 
which  Christ,  the  way  of  salvation  through  Him,  and  the 
nature  and  extent  of  His  promises,  are  more  fully  revealed  j 
and  thus  "  life  and  immortality  more  distinctly  brought  to- 
Mght."  And,,  furthermore,  this  Divine  relation,  this  holy 
Bnion,  here  based  on  covenant  signed  and  sealed,  is  to  be 
brought  forth  for  final  and  glorious  solemnization  on  the  il- 
lustrious morning  of  the  resurrection.  Hence,^the  Apostle- 
Paul,  eviden-tly  referring  forward  to  that  great  day,  says  t© 
the  Corinthians,  "  I  have  espoused  you  unto  one  husband^ 
that  I  may  present  you  as  a  chaste  virgin  to  Christ." — 
2  Cor.,  xi.,  2.  Hence,  also,  John,  in  the  visions  of  the 
Apocalypse,  when  he  "  heard  a  great  voice  of  much  people 
in  heaven,"  caught,  among  others,  these  words  :  "  The  rnar' 
riage  of  the  Lamb  is  come  ;  and  his  wife  hath  n:iade  herself 
leady." — Rev.,  xix.,  7.  And  hence,  "The  New  Jerusa- 
lem," or  the  Church  in  heaven,  is  styled  "  the  bride,  the 
Lamb's  wife." — Rev.,  xxi.,  9. 

Bringing  now  the  light  which  has  been  gathered,  so  tha£ 
it  may  shine  on  the  passage  last  cited  from  the  fifth  of 
Ephesians,  it  is  evident  that  this  passage,  without  pretend- 
ing, however,  to  follow  its  exact  order,  may  be  thus  para- 
phrased : 

"Under  the  covenant  of  grace.  Christians  ^ are  members 
of  Christ''s  bodi/,^  the  Church,  and  may,  therefore,  be  termed 
*  His  flesh  and  His  bones.''  In  this  holy  union,  Christ  '  loves 
the  Church  ;'  He  '  nourisheth  and  cherisheth'  it,  as  His  now 
graciously  espoused,  and  hereafter  to  be  royally  affianced. 
and  glorified  bride.  Of  this  Divine  union,  the  sacred  rela- 
tion of  husband  and  wife  is  a  kind  of  type,  or  symbol,  and 
was  so  ordained  from  the  beginning.  '  Husbands,  there- 
fore, are  religiously  bound  to  love  their  wives  as  their  own 
selves  (he  that  loveth  his  wife  does  in  fact  love  himself  j 


THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM.  195 

since  the  covenant  between  them  makes  them  in  so  many- 
important  respects  one)  :  for  no  man  ever  yet  hated  his 
own  flesh ;  but  nourisheth  and  cherisheth  it  even  as  the 
Lord  loveth  and  cherisheth  the  Church.'  So  let  husbands 
love  and  cherish  their  wives.  For  it  is  written,  on  the  first 
pages  of  Revelation,  *  For  this  cause,'  that  is,  on  account 
of  the  nature  of  marriage,  as  a  type  of  Christ's  covenant 
relation  to  the  Church,  '  For  this  cause  shall  a  man  leave 
his  father  and  mother,  and  shall  be  joined  to  his  wife  ;  and 
they  two  shall  be  one  flesh.' — Gen.,  ii.,  24.  'This  is  a 
great  mystery;  but  I  speak  it  of  Christ  and  the  Church,^ 
Marriage,  as  a  covenant  relation,  is  significant  as  well  as 
sacred  ;  pointing  to  Christ  and  the  Church  ;  designed  to  be 
auxiliary  to  this  higher  covenant ;  and,  therefore,  binding 
to  the  same  holy  love,  which  this  higher  covenant  de- 
mands." 

The  plain  meaning  of  all  this  seems  to  be,  that  marriage 
is  a  Divine  institution.  It  is  the  basis  of  the  family  rela- 
tion. The  family  itself  is  a  divine  arrangement,  designed 
to  be  preparatory  to  the  Church.  Every  truly  religious 
family  is  a  little  church.  Its  office  is  to  train  up  God's 
children  for  individual  membership  in  His  greater  Church 
on  earth ;  even  as  the  office  of  this  is  to  train  them  more 
perfectly  for  their  collective  character,  as  "  the  bride"  the 
Church  in  heaven,  which  is,  on  the  morning  of  the  great 
day  of  days,  to  be  presented  to  Christ,  arrayed  in  divinely- 
eff'ulgent  glories,  for  the  enjoyment  with  Him  of  eternal 
blessedness  and  honor. 

Such  is  the  "  great  mystery"  of  marriage,  as  related  to 
Christ  and  the  Church.  The  Church,  it  is  true,  hath  her 
sacraments  ;  and  they  are  a  sort  of  holy  marriage  ring  ;  signs 
of  the  union,  and  pledges  of  the  love  between  her  members 
and  her  Head.  But  this  union  itself  is,  in  other  words,  a 
covenant  relation ;  and,  as  such,  it  involves  no  "  participat- 
ing in  the  incarnation."     The  phrase,  "  We  are  members 


196  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

of  His  body,  of  His  flesh,  and  of  His  bones,"  means,  "  We 
are  members  of  that  Church,  which  is  called  His  body  ;"  and, 
as  every  natural  body  has  flesh  and  bones,  so,  carrying  out 
the  strong  figure,  we,  as  members  of  His  "  mystical  body," 
the  Church,  may  be  called  "  His  flesh  and  His  bones." 
The  language  of  the  apostle,  understood  as  some  authors 
are  fond  of  understanding  it,  would  make  Christians  in  a 
double,  and  even  treUe  sense,  members ;  in  other  words, 
members  of  Christ's  body,  and  also  members  of  "  His  jlesh, 
and  members  of  His  hones.''''  It  is  needless  to  dwell  on 
such  an  unnatural  straining  of  words.  They  import  no 
more  than  this :  that,  adopting  the  lively  phraseology  of 
symbol,  or  of  figure,  individual  Christians  may  be  called 
"  the  flesh  and  bones  of  that  body"  of  Christ,  which  is — 
The  Church. 

This  whole  passage,  then,  in  Ephesians  v.,  from  the 
25th  to  the  32d  verse,  makes  nothing  in  favor  of  the  theory 
of  baptismal  regeneration,  in  the  sense  maintained  by  its 
modern  advocates  ;  but  is  replete  and  luminous  with  teach- 
ing of  a  very  diff'erent  character.  It  makes  "  the  washing 
of  water"  the  emblem,  and  "  the  Word"  of  truth  the  instru- 
ment, of  that  renewing  and  sanctifying  process  which,  re- 
alized here  in  every  true  Christian,  shows  how  "  the  bride, 
the  Lamb's  ivife,'"  is  now  "  making  herself  ready"  for  that 
august  occasion  on  which  Christ  is  to  "  present  her  to 
Himself,  a  glorious  Church,  not  having  spot,  or  wrinkle,  or 
any  such  thing ;  but  holy  and  without  blemish."  And  it 
shows  the  momentous  relation  which,  in  the  Divine  inten- 
tion, marriage  has  to  all  this,  as  an  institution  designed  to 
minister  to  the  whole  heavenly  result ;  and,  therefore,  bind- 
ing to  all  that  holiness  of  affection  which  this  result  is 
eternally  to  unfold. 

5.  I  go,  next,  to  the  passage  which  occurs  in  the  first 
Epistle  of  Peter,  3d  chapter  and  21st  verse:  "The  like 
figure  whereunto  even  baptism  doth  also  now  save  us  (not 


THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM.  197 

the  putting  away  of  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but  the  answer  of 
a  good  conscience  toward  God),  by  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus  Christ." 

Here,  as  in  the  last  passage,  the  baptism  by  water  is  un- 
doubtedly the  idea  which  the  apostle  had  in  his  mind 
when  making  this  reference  to  Noah  and  those  saved  with 
him  in  the  ark. 

The  present  is  a  passage  of  some  difficulty,  and  its  pre- 
cise meaning  is  not  easily  settled.  Nevertheless,  its  main 
sense  is,  I  think,  apparent.  It  does  not  mean,  then,  that  the 
waters  of  the  flood  were  themselves  a  type  of  the  waters  in 
baptism.  This  meaning  were  full  of  incongruity.  The 
waters  of  the  flood  were  not  saving,  but  destroying.  They 
could  not,  therefore,  typify  even  the  symbol  of  our  salvation. 
The  idea  is,  that  the  whole  circumstance  of  Noah's  being 
saved  by  passing  in  the  ark  "  through  the  waters"  (dt'  v6a- 
TOf),  is  a  type  of  something  which  baptism,  rightly  under- 
stood,  does  for  us  "  through  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ." 
Nor,  again,  does  the  passage  mean  that  what  is  thus  effect- 
ed for  us  by  baptism,  is  effected  by  the  waters  of  that  ordi- 
nance ;  for  the  apostle  expressly  guards  against  such  a  sup- 
position when  he  says,  that  the  thing  in  baptism  to  which 
he  refers  is,  not  "  the  putting  away  of  the  filth  of  the  flesh, 
but  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience  toward  God."  In 
other  words,  it  is,  not  the  water  in  baptism,  but  that  inward 
work  of  the  Spirit,  in  repentance  and  faith,  which  baptism 
.symbolizes,  and  which  enables  us,  in  all  good  sincerity  and 
honesty  of  conscience,  to  answer  the  questions  propounded 
at  baptism.  And,  finally,  I  think  it  may  be  made  evident 
that  the  something  from  which  baptism,  thus  understood, 
saves  us,  is  not  the  present  deep  pollution  and  the  future 
eternal  punishment  of  our  sins,  but  the  present  afflicting  ter- 
ror, and  the  future  abiding  dominion  of  that  same  temporal 
death,  from  which  Noah  was  saved  in  the  ark.  This  is 
rendered  highly  probable  by  the  addition  which  the  apostle 
R2 


198  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

makes  when  he  says,  that  this  inward  significancy  of  bap- 
tism saves  us  "  by"  or  through  "  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ."  That  is,  as  Jesus  Christ  rose  from  the  dead  the 
third  day,  so  the  faith  in  Him  which  is  professed  or  sealed 
at  baptism,  when,  with  "  a  good  conscience  toward  God," 
we  answer  the  "  questioning"  [e'n£po)T7][ja)  which  is  then 
made,  assures  us  that  we  also  shall  rise  from  the  dead  at  the 
last  day,  and  thus  that  death  shall  not  hold  over  us  more 
than  a  brief  dominion. 

This  interpretation  is,  moreover,  strongly  confirmed  by 
two  other  texts.  The  one  of  these  is  found  in  connection 
with  a  passage  in  the  sixth  of  Romans,  to  which  I  shall  soon 
have  occasion  more  largely  to  refer.  "  Now  if  we  be  dead 
with  Christ,  we  believe  that  we  shall  also  live  with  Him : 
knowing  that  Christ,  being  raised  from  the  dead,  dieth  no 
more ;  death  hath  no  more  dominion  over  Him." — Rom., 
vi.,  8,  9.  This  was  spoken  after  what  the  apostle  had  said 
about  being  "  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ,"  and  about  being 
"  buried  with  Him  by  baptism  into  death."  Without  antici- 
pating what  I  have  to  say  of  these  expressions,  I  may  re- 
mark, that  their  connection  with  the  succeeding  passage 
(that  now  under  consideration)  makes  it  evident  that  the 
sense  of  this  passage  is  as  follows  :  "  If,  as  we  profess  at 
adult  baptism,  or  as  baptism  in  infancy  signifies  we  should 
become,  we  be  really  '  dead  with  Christ,^  really  penitent  for 
sin,  thoroughly  determined  to  renounce  it,  and  inwardly 
deadened  to  its  power,  '  we  believe  we  shall  also  live  with 
Him  ;'  shall  continue  to  cherish,  and  cultivate,  and  enjoy 
the  spiritual  life  which  our  repentance  and  faith  imply,  or  to 
which  baptism  in  infancy  binds  us  ;  and  not  only  so,  but 
shall  ultimately  rise,  like  Christ,  from  the  dead,  and  live 
with  him  forever  more.  '  As  death  hath  no  more  dominion 
over  Him,^  so  shall  it  have  no  more  over  us,  either  in  the 
tyranny  of  sin  in  this  life,  or  in  the  abiding  power  of  the 
grave  over  us,  when  this  life  shall  have  ended."     It  is  prob- 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  199 

able  that,  at  baptism,  the  early  converts  to  Christ  professed 
their  faith  in  the  great  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  from  the 
dead,  based  on  the  fact  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ. 

And  this  probability  is  increased  by  the  other  of  the  two 
texts  just  mentioned.  It  occurs  in  the  apostle's  great  ar- 
gument for  the  resurrection  of  iJie  body,  in  the  fifteenth 
chapter  of  his  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  and  is  in 
these  words :  "  Else,  what  shall  they  do  who  are  baptized 
for  the  dead,  if  the  dead  rise  not  at  all  ?  Why  are  they 
then  baptized  for  the  dead  ?  And  why  stand  we  in  jeopardy 
every  hour  f — 1  Cor.,  xv.,  29,  30,  This  is,  in  some  re- 
spects, one  of  the  most  difficult  texts  in  the  New  Testament. 
But  the  best  criticisms  and  helps  to  interpretation  to  which 
I  have  found  access,  render  it  highly  probable,  if  not  cer- 
tain, that  its  sense  is  this  :  "  If  our  dead  bodies  rise  not  at 
all,  then  why,  at  baptism,  profess  we  our  belief  in  their  res- 
urrection from  the  dead  ?  Why  are  we  baptized  in  the 
belief  of  such  a  resurrection  ?  And  why,  through  constan- 
cy in  this  faith,  do  we  every  hour  jeopard  our  lives  amid 
the  persecutions  which  are  thus  brought  upon  us  ?"  This 
sense  agrees  with  the  whole  scoi>e  of  the  apostle's  argu- 
ment in  that  noble  chapter,  and  it  goes  far  to  render  certaia 
the  position  that,  originally,  one  of  the  things  professed  at 
the  baptism  of  the  early  Christians  was  their  steadfast  faith 
in  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  grounded  on  the  fact  of 
Christ's  own  resurrection.  It  was  this  fact  which  all  the 
apostles  most  vigorously  asserted  and  testified.  It  was  their 
testimony  to  this  fact  which  brought  on  them  the  persecu- 
ting hate  of  the  Jews;  and  it  was  their  preaching  of  this 
fact,  with  the  truth  which  it  involved  in  the  possibility  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  human  body,  that  provoked  against  theiu 
the  burning  scorn  of  die  Greek.  Doubtless,  therefore,  it 
was  this  fact  itself,  and  the  faith  which  it  supported  in  the 
resurrection  of  their  own  bodies,  which  the  first  Christians, 
St  their  baptism,  uaosi  steadfastly  professed,  and  persevered 


200  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

in  professing  in  the  face  of  all  the  peril  in  which  it  involved 
them. 

Let  us  now  take  the  light  which  comes  from  these  texts, 
and  spread  it  over  the  passage  from  the  Epistle  of  Peter. 
Thus  spread,  it  plainly  manifests  the  following  meaning : 
The  baptism,  which  is  the  antitype  (^avTirvrrov)  of  Noah's 
being  saved  in  the  ark  from  present  temporal  death  amid  the 
devouring  waters  of  the  Deluge  ;  the  baptism,  which  consists, 
not  in  the  mere  "  putting  away  of  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but" 
in  "  the  answer"  which  "  a  good  conscience  toward  God" 
makes  to  the  questioning  customary  at  that  ordinance  ;  this 
baptism,  or  baptism  thus  understood,  assures  us  that  we  also 
shall  be  saved  from  the  future  dominion  of  the  grave,  as  cer- 
tainly as  our  Savior  Christ  was  raised  up  from  the  power 
of  the  sepulchre.  In  the  light  which  one  apostle  thus  re- 
flects from  Christ  upon  a  brother  apostle,  the  passage  from 
the  latter  may,  with  strict  justice  to  the  original,  be  thus 
paraphrased  :  "  Noah  and  his  family  were  carried  in  the 
ark  through  the  vvhelming  waters  of  the  flood,  and  thus  saved 
from  present  temporal  death.  The  antitype  to  this,  I  mean 
baptism,  not,  however,  the  mere  putting  away  of  the  filth  of 
the  flesh,  but  what  this  material  washing  signifies,  in  the 
answer  of  a  good  conscience  toward  God,  given  as  the  re- 
sult of  the  inward  baptism  of  the  Spirit,  now  saves  us  alsa ; 
or  assures  us,  as  God's  pledge,  the  seal  of  His  promise  and 
His  oath,  that  our  bodies  shall  hereafter  be  raised  from  the 
grave,  through  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  or  by  the 
same  power  which  raised  Him  from  the  dead." 

So  little  support  does  this  apostle  give  to  the  idea  that 
baptism  is  the  fountain  and  source  of  that  new  life  which 
saves  us  from  sin  and  eternal  death,  and  that  in  it  is  wrap- 
ped the  unutterable  mystery  which  makes  the  baptized  in- 
fant "  a  partaker  in  the  incarnation." 

6.  I  pass  now  to  the  text  to  which,  a  moment  since,  I  re- 
ferred, in  the  Epistle  to  the  Ramans.     "  Know  ye  not,  that 


THE    NATURE    OP    BAPTISM.  201 

80  many  of  us  as  were  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ,  were 
baptized  into  his  death  ?" — Rom.,  vi.,  3.  Here,  it  may  be 
asked,  Is  not  baptism  said  to  bring  us  "  into  Christ  ?"  and 
does  not  this  constitute  that  reverend  mystery,  that  "  parti- 
cipating in  the  incarnation,"  that  transmuting  of  "  the  sinful 
flesh  into  the  body  of  Christ,"  which  has  been  ascribed  to 
this  ordinance  ?  Is  it  not  said,  too,  that  by  this  baptism  we 
"  are  baptized  into  His  death  ?"  And  does  not  this  show  that, 
in  baptism,  our  sinful  nature  is  put  to  death  through  the  pow- 
er of  Christ,  into  whom  we  are  thus  actually  ingrafted  ?  To 
this  I  answer,  if  such  does  appear  to  be  the  teaching  of  the 
passage,  appearances  here,  as  elsewhere,  may  prove  deceit- 
ful. Taking  the  language  as  it  stands  by  itself,  is  not  the 
way  to  penetrate  its  meaning.  To  reach  this,  we  must 
look  at  its  connection  with  the  apostle's  argument. 

He  had,  then,  been  just  setting  forth  the  great  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith,  and,  having  done  so,  comes,  in  this 
part  of  his  epistle,  to  a  vindication  of  the  doctrine  from  ob- 
jection ;  especially  from  the  objection  that  it  has  an  Antino- 
7nian  tendency,  or  a  tendency  to  bring  the  moral  law  into 
disrepute  as  a  rule  of  life,  on  the  ground  that,  being  freely 
justified  hy  faith,  we  need  not  be  strict  in  obedience.  "  What 
shall  we  say,  then  V'  he  inquires,  anticipating  the  language 
of  an  objector  :  "  Shall  we  continue  in  sin,  that  grace  may 
abound  ?  God  forbid !  How  shall  we,  that  are  dead  to 
sin,  live  any  longer  therein  ?  Know  ye  not,  that  so  many  of 
us  as  were  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ,  were  baptized  into  His 
death  ?  Therefore  we  are  buried  with  him  by  baptism  into 
death ;  that  like  as  Christ  was  raised  up  from  the  dead  by 
the  glory  of  the  Father,  even  so  we  also  should  walk  in 
newness  of  life.  For,  as  we  have  been  planted  together  in 
the  likeness  of  his  death,  we  shall  be  also  in  the  likeness  of 
his  resurrection  :  knowing  this,  that  our  old  man  is  crucified 
with  Him,  that  the  body  of  sin  might  be  destroyed,  that 
henceforth  we  should  not  serve  sin.  For  he  that  is  dead 
is  freed  from  sin." — Rom.,  vi.,  1-7. 


202  THE    NATUKE   OP   BAPTISM. 

Now,  without  attempting  a  labored  criticism  of  this  pas- 
sage, the  materials  for  which,  however,  are  abundant,  it  is 
enough  to  say,  that  the  scope  of  the  apostle's  argument  ful- 
ly justifies  the  following  paraphrase,  v.  1.  "  Because,  where 
sin  abounds,  there  grace  much  more  abounds ;  shall  we  go 
on  in  sin  that  God  may  have  the  glory  of  this  superabound- 
ing  grace  1  v.  2.  Let  no  such  inference  be  drawn  from  the 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith,  or  the  free  gift  of  our  sal- 
vation in  Christ  Jesus.  How  shall  we,  who,  by  that  in- 
ward renewing  which  a  justifying  faith  implies,  have  died 
to  sin,  continue  to  live  in  the  commission  of  it  ?  v.  3.  Know 
ye  not,  that  so  many  of  us  as  have  been  baptized  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ,  have,  in  that  baptism,  sealed  a  covenant  which 
binds  us  continually  to  die  unto  sin,  even  as  Christ  once  died 
FOR  sin  ?  V.  4.  This  is  the  solemn  import  of  our  baptism. 
We  are  there,  in  a  most  significant  symbol,  and  in  a  most 
stringent  covenanting,  buried  with  Christ  into  death  ;  the 
deep  significancy  and  obligation  of  our  baptism  being  this  ; 
that,  as  Christ  was  raised  up  from  the  dead  by  His  glorious 
Father,  even  so  we,  through  the  power  of  the  Spirit,  should 
habitually  walk  in  the  newness  of  a  holy  life.  v.  5.  This  is 
the  true  import  of  the  baptismal  act,  and  if  we  be  true 
Christians,  we  shall  live  conformably  to  this  import.  If  we 
have  been  planted  with  Christ  in  a  likeness  to  His  death,  we 
shall  be  also  in  a  likeness  to  His  resurrection.  '  As  He 
died  and  rose  again,  so  shall  we,  who  are  baptized,  die  from 
sin  and  rise  again  unto  righteousness  ;  continually  mortify- 
ing all  our  evil  and  corrupt  aflfections,  and  daily  proceeding 
in  all  virtue  and  godliness  of  living.'  v.  6.  In  our  inward 
renewal,  professed  and  sealed  in  baptism,  our  old  man  is 
crucified  with  Christ  for  the  very  purpose,  that  henceforth 
we  should  not  serve  sin.  v.  7.  For  he  who  has  thus  died 
to  sin  is  Christ's  free  man,  and  no  longer  a  slave  to  sin." 

Thus,  by  opening  a  little  more  fully  the  apostle's  argu- 
ment, we  see  that  his  words  in  the  third  verse  involve  no 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  203 

such  sense  as  the  theory  of  baptismal  regeneration,  in  its 
various  modifications,  implies.  His  argument  is  briefly  this. 
The  abounding  of  grace  in  the  free  pardon  of  siii  by  Jesus 
Christ  neither  encourages  nor  tolerates  sin,  because,  in  ac- 
cepting by  faith  that  covenant  of  grace,  which  is  sealed  in 
baptism,  we  come  under  the  most  solemn  obligations  to  ab- 
stain from  all  sin  ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  if  we  are  not 
hypocrites,  we  have  that  inward  principle  of  the  new  life, 
which  the  Spirit  quickens  in  us  through  the  truth,  and  which 
ultimately  works  the  utter  death  of  all  sin  in  our  natures. 
So  far,  therefore,  as  his  language  in  the  third  verse  is  con- 
cerned, there  is  no  need  of  seeking  for  any  thing  more,  or 
for  any  thing  else,  than  the  idea  intimated  in  the  paraphrase, 
that,  "  as  many  as  are  baptized  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ, 
are  baptized  either  as  adults,  with  a  profession,  or  as  infants, 
in  symbol,  of  that  inward  renewing,  which  makes  us  dead 
unto  sin,  even  as  Christ  once  diedyor  sin." 

To  a  similar  purpose  the  argument  is  continued  in  the 
subsequent  verses ;  but  it  is  needless  farther  to  follow  its 
reasonings.  The  passage,  so  far  as  it  has  been  examined, 
is  one  among  others,  which  show  the  significant  and  sym- 
bolizing nature  of  Christian  baptism. 

7.  In  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians  (ii.,  10-13)  is  an- 
other passage,  which  involves  the  same  general  sense  with 
that  just  examined.  "  Ye  are  complete  in  Him,  which  is 
the  head  of  all  principality  and  power ;  in  whom  also  ye 
are  circumcised  with  the  circumcision  made  without  hands, 
in  putting  off  the  body  of  the  sins  of  the  flesh  by  the  cir- 
cumcision of  Christ ;  buried  with  Him  in  baptism  ;  wherein 
also  ye  are  risen  with  Him  through  the  faith  of  the  opera- 
tion of  God,  who  hath  raised  Him  from  the  dead.  And  you, 
being  dead  in  your  sins,  and  the  uncircumcision  of  your 
flesh,  hath  he  quickened  together  with  Him  ;  having  forgiven 
you  all  trespasses." 

After  what  has  been  said,  the  sense  of  all  this  is  beauti- 


204  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISIVT, 

fully  apparent  without  any  lengthened  comment.  V.  10. 
"  All  true  Christians  make  up  together  the  complete  body, 
of  which  Christ  is  the  Divine  Head."  V,  11.  In  Him  they 
have  the  true  circumcision,  "  tliat  of  the  heart,"  which  is 
effected  by  "  putting  off  the  body  of  the  sins  of  the  flesh," 
even  "  by  the  circumcision  of  Christ ;"  i.  e.,  the  circumcis- 
ion which  Christ  requires.  V.  12.  All  this  is  most  strik- 
ingly represented  in  their  baptism,  wherein  they  are  sym- 
loUcalJy  (for  Ulerally  they  can  not  be)  "  buried  and  raised 
with  Christ."  And  their  death  unto  sin,  and  their  rising  to 
a  new  life,  as  here  symbolized,  are  effected  "  through  their 
belief  oi  that  mighty  working  of  God,  which  raised  up  Christ 
from  the  dead."  V.  13.  "  And  thus  it  is  that,  having  been 
once  dead  in  sin,  in  the  uncircumcised  carnality  of  their 
nature,  God  hath  quickened  them  together  with  Christ,  and 
freely  forgiven  them  all  their  trespasses." 

This  passage,  besides  implying  the  symbolical  nature  of 
baptism,  distinctly  favors  the  doctrine  that,  under  the  Gos- 
pel, baptism  holds  the  same  place  as  a  seal  of  the  covenant 
of  grace,  with  circumcision  under  the  Law. 

But  in  all  this  there  is  nothing  favorable  to  that  view  of 
baptism  in  infancy  which  ascribes  to  its  instrumentality,  or, 
rather,  to  it  as  a  source,  "  the  death  unto  sin  and  the  new 
life  unto  righteousness,"  which  are  mentioned.  These  ef- 
fects are  here  ascribed  rather  to  that  ^' faith'''  which  is  ever 
the  act  of  the  conscious  and  intelligent  mind  of  riper  years. 

In  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  (ii.,  1-8),  this  whole 
Divine  process  of  "quickening  us  together  with  Christ," 
and  of  "raising  us  up  together  with  him  to  the  new  and 
heavenly  life,"  is  described  without  the  least  allusion  to 
baptism,  though  not  without  a  very  distinct  reference  again 
to  faith,  in  its  place  and  exercise  as  the  Christian's  act 
under  the  renovating  influence.  "  By  grace  are  ye  saved," 
not  of  baptism,  but  "  through  faith."  Thus  these  eight  vers- 
es strongly  confirm  the  view  taken  both  of  the  passage  in 


THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM.  205 

Romans,  vi.,  3,  and  of  that  in  Colossians,  ii.,  10-13,  viz., 
that  the  object  in  those  passages  of  the  mention  of  baptism 
in  connection  with  this  spiritual  death  and  resurrection  is  to 
show  that,  in  that  sacred  ordinance,  this  Divine  operation, 
though  not  wrought  in  baptism,  is  yet  at  baptism  professed 
and  symbolized. 

8.  I  approach  now  a  text  of  great  importance,  which 
has,  however,  as  a  little  examination  will  show,  been  un- 
vi^arrantably  pressed  into  the  service  of  the  theory  of  bap- 
tismal regeneration.  It  is  the  celebrated  passage  in  the 
Epistle  of  Paul  to  Titus :  "  The  washing  of  regeneration 
and  the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost." — Tit.,  iii.,  5, 

It  is  admitted  at  once  that  the  former  part  of  the  expres- 
sion, "  The  washing  of  regeneration,"  means  baptism  ;  but, 
at  the  same  time,  it  is  contended  that  the  latter  part,  "  The 
renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  means  no  more  than  just 
what  it  expresses ;  "  Renovation,  effected  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  ;"  including,  of  course,  all  its  fruits,  or  effects.  It 
does  not  mean  what  is  claimed  for  the  mystery  of  baptism, 
that  awful  gift  which,  it  is  said,  "  is  not  to  be  confounded 
with  renovation  or  a  change  of  heart ;"  nor  restrained  to 
any  other  of  the  fruits  of  that  gift ;  but  is  "  illimitable  and 
incomprehensible  as  that  great  mystery  from  which  it 
flows,  the  incarnation  of  our  Redeemer."*  It  is  simply 
and  solely,  what  the  apostle  says  it  is,  "  Renovation  by  the 
Spirit,"  with  all  the  fruits  which  it  bears.  More  especially 
is  it  maintained  that  it  does  not,  as  is  claimed,  tie  "  the 
renewing  by  the  Holy  Ghost,"  as  a  special  effect,  to  "  the 
washing  of  regeneration,"  as,  jointly  with  the  Spirit,  its 
source    and  cause,]  making  the  two   simultaneous  in  that 

*  Dr.  Pusey  on  Baptism,  Tract  67,  p.  43. 

t  Idem,  p.  25,  26.  This  last  reference,  indeed — like  that  to  page  43 — is 
to  that  part  of  the  Tract  on  Baptism  in  which  the  author  treats  of  John, 
iii.,  5.  But,  then,  he  considers  that  passage  and  this,  Tit.,  iii.,  5,  as  iden- 
tical in  sense ;  and,  therefore,  what  he  affirms  as  the  sense  of  the  one,  he 
affij-ms  also  as  the  sense  of  the  other. 

s 


206  THE  NATURE  OP  BAPTISM. 

baptismal  "  fountain,"  wherein  we  are  said  to  be  "  born  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  even  as  our  blessed  and  incarnate  Lord 
was,  according  to  the  flesh,  born  of  Him  in  the  Virgin's 
womb."*  The  words  of  the  apostle  neither  make  the 
change  overpass  renovation  and  its  fruits,  nor  do  they 
teach  that  this  change  is  wrought  at  one  and  the  same  mo- 
ment with  "  the  washing  of  regeneration."  To  assume 
both,  or  either  of  these,  is  but  io  force  a  meaning  where  the 
Bible  expresses  none  ;  and  thus  to  make  Scripture  for  our- 
selves, where  we  can  not  And  it  to  our  wish. 

"  The  washing  of  regeneration,"  which  symbolizes,  and 
"  the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  which  effects  "  the  great 
and  necessary  work  of  our  change  from  sin  to  holiness ;" 
this  is  a  paraphrase  which  evidently  exhausts  the  meaning 
of  the  passage ;  leaving  the  question  as  to  the  time  when 
this  change  takes  place,  a  point  wholly  untouched. 

It  is,  indeed,  more  than  probable  that,  in  those  early 
days,  when  the  Word  preached  was  so  generally  accom- 
panied with  wonderful  power,  and  when  those  who  preach, 
ed  it  were  guided  with  more  than  ordinary  wisdom  in  judg- 
ing of  the  hearts  and  characters  of  men,  the  washing  of 
water  and  the  renewing  of  the  Spirit  were  generally,  in 
point  of  time,  near  each  other.  Thus,  to  name  a  single  in- 
stance :  after  Philip  had  preached  Christ  to  the  eunuch, 
with  evidence  of  the  Holy  Ghost  accompanying  the  Word  ;t 

*  Pusey  on  Baptism,  Tract  67,  p.  43. 

t  That  the  Holy  Ghost  actually  accompanied,  and  still  accompanies  the 
Word  preached,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  "  My  speech  and  my  preaching 
was  not  with  enticing  words  of  man's  wisdom,  but  in  demonstration  of  the 
Spirit  and  of  power." — 1  Cor.,  ii.,4.  And  this  was  to  show  that  the  "faith" 
of  the  early  Christians  did  "  not  stand  in  the  wisdom  of  men,  but  in  the 
power  of  God" — v.  5.  So  Peter,  when  ivriting  to  the  Christians  to  whom 
Paul  had  preached,  says  (speaking  of  Paul  undoubtedly,  and  his  compan- 
ions in  labor).  They  "  have  preached  the  Gospel  unto  you,  with  the  Holy 
Ghost  sent  down  from  Heaven:"  literally,  "have  evangelized  you  with  the  Holy 
Ghost;"  tvavYe\i<!aiiivuiv  vjidi  iv  XlvtiinaTi  ayi'tj).  —  1  Pet.,  i.,  12.  This  de- 
monstration of  the  Spirit,  accompanying  the  preaching  of  the  Word,  was, 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  207 

and  after  he  had  demanded  and  received  from  the  renovated 
Ethiop  a  profession  of  his  heartfelt  faith  in  Jesus,  as  the 
Son  of  God,  he  at  once  baptized  hira. — Acts,  viii.,  26-38. 
The  evidence  of  his  renewal  was  satisfying.  The  apostle 
needed  not  to  wait,  as  in  these  days  of  feebler  power,  and 
dimmer  wisdom  in  the  ministers  of  Christ,  it  is  generally 
deemed  expedient  to  wait,  for  professions  to  prove  their 
sincerity,  for  character  to  test  its  permanency,  or  for  feel- 
ings either  to  settle  into  principles,  or  to  evanish  in  forget- 
fulness,  before  deciding  the  great  question  whether  he 
should  or  should  not  be  baptized.  There  was  enough  in 
all  the  circumstances  of  the  case  to  settle  that  question  at 
once  ;  and,  therefore,  at  once  was  the  sealing  ordinance  ad- 
ministered. And  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  it  was  this 
state  of  things  which  led  to  the  occasional — by  no  means 
the  constant — mention  of  the  inward  work  of  the  Spirit,  and 
of  its  symbolizing,  sealing  rite,  in  close  connection  of  lan- 
guage. This,  however,  proves  not  that  the  baptismal  waters 
were,  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  joint  "  source'''  and  "  cause" 
of  the  soul's  renewal ;  or  that  the  two  were,  in  point  of 
time,  simultaneously  effected.  On  the  contrary,  there  are,  I 
apprehend,  in  all  such  cases,  attendant  circumstances  suffi- 
cient to  show  not  only  that,  in  foint  of  lime,  they  were 
actually  separated,  but  also  that,  in  point  of  order,  that  in- 
ward change  preceded  its  outward  symbol  and  seal.  Let 
us  see  if  this  be  not  the  case  with  the  passage  before  us 
(Titus,  iii.,  5). 

What  says  the  context  ?     Read  this  part  of  Paul's  letter 
to  his  "  son  Titus  after  the  common  faith."     "  Put  them 

no  doubt,  sometimes  for  the  communication  of  miraculous  gifts.  Yet,  un- 
less we  suppose  that  all  to  whom  Paul  preached,  and  to  whom  Petei-  wrote, 
were  miraculously  endowed,  we  must  allow  that  it  was  generally  for  the 
ordinary  work  of  their  renewal  and  sanctification.  This,  however,  is  only 
adding  to  the  cumulative  evidence  already  given,  that  the  gift  of  the  Spirit 
was— not  in  baptism,  but — through  the  Truth  of  God,  understood  and  felt, 
received  and  obeyed. 


208  THE  NATURE  OP  BAPTISM. 

(the  Cretians)  in  mind  to  be  subject  to  principalities  and 
powers,  to  obey  magistrates,  to  be  ready  to  every  good 
work,  to  speak  evil  of  no  man,  to  be  no  brawlers,  but  gentle, 
showing  all  meekness  unto  all  men."  Do  you  ask,  What  is 
your  encouragement  for  preaching  such  things  to  those 
"  Cretians,"  whom  "  one  of  their  own  prophets"*  has  rep- 
resented as 

"  Always  liars,  evil  beasts,  slow-bellies  ?" 
I  reply,  even  this  :  "  We  ourselves"  I,  Paul,  who  speak, 
thou,  Titus,  whom  I  address,  and  other  preachers  like  us, 
were  once  as  unpromising  subjects  as  these  very  "  Cre- 
tians ;"  myself,  especially,  having  been  "  the  chief  of  sin- 
ners." "PTe  ourselves,"  I  say,  "were  once  foolish,  diso- 
bedient, deceived,  serving  divers  lusts  and  pleasures,  living 
in  malice  and  envy,  hateful,  and  hating  one  another.  But" 
— see,  oh,  see  what  the  mighty  Gospel,  which  you  are  to 
preach  to  your  "  Cretians,"  has,  by  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  effected  even  in  us ;  for,  "  after  that  the  kindness 
and  love  of  God  our  Savior  toward  man  appeared  (not  by 
works  of  righteousness  which  ive  have  done,  but  according 
to  his  mercy).  He  saved  us  by  the  washing  of  regeneration 
and  the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  He  shed  on  us 
abundantly  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Savior ;  that,  being 
justified  by  his  grace,  we  should  be  made  heirs  according 
to  the  hope  of  eternal  life."  Thus  encouraged,  .then,  by 
what  has  been  wrought  in  ourselves,  be  not  backward  in 
calling  your  "  Cretians"  to  the  entire  holiness  which  I  have 
enjoined.  What  I  have  said  "  is  a  faithful  saying ;"  my 
injunction  is  in  full  accord  with  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel ; 
"  and  these  things  I  will  that  thou  affirm  constantly,  that 
they  which  have  helieved  in  God  might  be  careful  to  main- 
tain good  works." — Titus,  iii.,  1-8. 

Here  we  see  that  the  change  of  which  the  apostle  speaks 

*  Supposed  to  be  Epimenides,  born  at  Gnossus,  in  Crete ;  a  poet,  reputed 
a  prophet,  and  the  auther  of  a  work  on  oracles,  now  lost. 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  209 

was  nothing  more  nor  less  than  his  own  conversion,  and  that 
of  Titus  and  other  preachers  :  a  change  which  we  know,  in 
the  case  of  Paul  at  least,  preceded  baptism,  and  was  simply 
his  being  "  turned  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  pow- 
er of  Satan  imto  God,"  by  the  mighty  working  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  accompanying  the  pungent  preaching  of  Jesus  him- 
self, and  of  his  servant  Ananias,  and  operating  through  days 
of  an  intense  struggle  in  prayer,  which  began  in  that  heart- 
surrendering  petition,  "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to 
do  ?"  It  was  no  miracle,  or  mystery,  wrought  on  imcon- 
scious  infancy,  but  an  intelligible  renewal,  wrought  by  most 
reasonable  and  adequate  causes,  and  in  years  of  most  intel- 
ligent and  ripened  rebellion  against  God.* 

*  It  is  surely  extravagant,  and  utterly  without  reason,  to  say,  as  our  op- 
posing theorists  do  say,  that  the  conversion  of  St.  Paul,  and  his  endowment 
with  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  both  for  ordinary  and  for  extraordinary  grace, 
did  not  take  place  till  the  moment,  and  in  the  act  of  his  baptism.  In  the  ac- 
count of  the  whole  transaction,  as  recorded  in  the  ninth  and  twenty-second 
chapters  of  the  Acts,  his  baptism  was  preceded  by  every  circumstance 
which  could  characterize  a  true  conversion,  and  the  bestowment  of  all  the 
gifts  of  the  Spirit.  For  instance,  there  were  his  arrest  on  his  way  to  Da- 
mascus by  the  out-shining  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness;  the  short,  but 
searching  sermon  of  Jesus,  evidently  carried,  by  the  subduing  power  of  the 
Spirit,  to  the  soul  of  the  stricken  man  ;  that  cry  of  a  most  submissive  heart, 
uttered  in  the  true  spirit  of  faith,  and  of  a  most  repentant  consciousness  of 
his  awful  sins,  "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ?"  his  overpowering, 
and  even  blinding  sense  of  the  manifested  glory  of  Christ ;  his  three  days' 
struggle  in  prayer  and  fasting  at  Damascus;  the  Christian  instruction  of 
Ananias,  accompanied  by  the  laying  on  of  his  hands,  and  instructing  him 
unto  baptisj7i,  as  the  first  outward  element  and  duty  of  Christ's  rehgion ; 
Paul's  receipt  of  the  miraculous  gift  of  inspiration  in  being  "  filled  with  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  and  the  restoration  of  suspended  sight  to  his  darkened  eyes, 
in  token  of  the  marvelous  gift  which  had  just  been  "  shed  on  him  so  abun- 
dantly." All  these  circumstances  transpired,  not  tvhen,  or  after,  but  before 
he  was  "  baptized,  and  washed  away  his  sins,  having  called  on  the  name  of 
the  Lord" — i.  e.,  before  he  received  that  baptismal  washing  which  was  to 
him  at  once  the  sign  of  the  full  renewal,  and  the  seal  of  the  free  forgiveness 
which  he  had  received.  Who,  then,  in  the  face  of  all  this,  shall  say  that 
Paul  was  not  converted  and  endowed  with  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost  till 
the  time  and  in  the  mystery  of  his  baptism  ?  If  an  army  of  post-Nicene  and 
Mediaeval  writers  were  to  concur  in  the  assertion,  that  could  not  alter  the 

S2 


210  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

So  Utterly  groundless  is  the  assumption  which  takes  the 
naked  words,  "  He  saved  us  by  the  washing  of  regeneration 
and  the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  and  then  uses  them  as 
a  proof  that,  in  infant  baptism,  the  two  things  are  tied  togeth- 
er in  the  relation  of  source  and  issue,  cause  and  effect ;  and 
not  only  so,  but  as  a  proof  that  this  result  is  as  awful  a  mir- 
acle as  that  which  was  wrought  when  the  Holy  Ghost  made 
the  Son  of  God  incarnate  in  our  nature  !  And  yet,  next  to 
John,  iii.,  5,  this  is  the  principal  text  cited  to  prove  these, 
and  all  associated,  though  modified  views  of  the  doctrine 
of  baptismal  regeneration  as  applied  to  the  case  of  in- 
fants ! 

9.  Having  thus  examined  all  the  texts  on  the  subject  of 
baptism  which  I  think  it  necessary  to  examine,  whether  of 
those  which  are  alleged  to  refer,  or  of  those  which  unques- 
tionably do  refer  to  this  subject,  I  take  up,  at  last,  the 
great  "  key-text''''  itself,  as  it  has  been  termed,  under  which 
I  have  so  long  been  writing.  I  have  reserved  it  for  this 
place,  because  it  is,  in  itself,  the  most  important  text  on  the 
subject  before  us,  and  because,  in  obedience  to  that  just 
canon  of  interpretation  which  I  have  adopted,  I  think  it 
ought  not,  as  a  text  of  disputed,  if  not  of  doubtful  meaning, 
and  as,  in  a  strong  sense,  the  hinging  point  in  this  discus- 
sion, to  be  interpreted  till  we  have  looked  abroad  through 
the  Bible,  and  especially  through  the  New  Testament,  for 
the  best  and  fullest  light  which  can  be  collected  upon  the 
point  proposed  for  illustration — the  nature  of  Christian  bap- 
tism. And  yet,  though  standing  at  the  focus  of  all  this 
light,  I  shall  endeavor,  as  far  as  possible,  to  place  this  im- 
portant passage  in  its  own  light,  to  examine  it  by  its  own 
shining,  and  see  whether,  fairly  viewed,  it  does  not  give 
forth  to  others  the  same  light  which  it  receives  from  them. 

"  Verily,  verily,  1  say  unto  thee.  Except  a  man  be  born 

testimony  of  incontestable  facts.     [For  the  views  referred  to  in  the  above 
note,  see  Pusey  on  Baptism,  Tract  67,  p.  174-176,  N.  Y.  ed.] 


THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM.  211 

of  water  and  the  Spirit,  he  can  not  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  God." — John,  iii.,  5. 

1.  In  seeking,  then,  for  the  meaning  of  these  words,  I 
shall  not  avail  myself  of  the  interpretation  which  would  cut 
the  knot  of  difficulty  instead  of  untying  it,  by  asserting  that 
there  is  here  no  mention  of  literal  baptism.  With  the  ad- 
vocates of  baptismal  regeneration  I  have  no  controversy  on 
this  point.  I  admit,  and,  if  necessary,  would  contend,  that 
by  the  birth  of  water  literal  baptism  is  intended.  Yet  I 
urge,  in  the  first  place,  that  our  Savior  does  not  say  here, 
and  can  not  be  made  to  say,  that  the  birth  of  water  and  the 
birth  of  the  Spirit  must  be  effected,  and  are  effected,  at  one 
and  the  same  instant.  This  is  one  of  the  points  which,  un- 
der the  false  canon  of  interpretation  formerly  noticed,  is 
ever  silently,  but  without  reason,  assumed.  Taking  it  for 
granted  that  the  water  spoken  of  means  the  water  of  baptism, 
the  supporters  of  that  canon  also  take  it  for  granted,  as 
something  which  necessarily  follows,  that  the  birth  of  the 
Spirit  is  simultaneous  with  it,  and  effected  hy  it.  It  needs 
but  a  moment's  thought  to  see  that  this  assumption  is  whol- 
ly groundless.  Christ  says,  on  another  occasion,  "  He  that 
believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved"  (Mark,  xvi.,  16) ; 
while  Peter,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  in  answer  to  the  in- 
quiry of  the  Jews,  "  What  shall  we  do  ?"  replies,  "  Repent 
and  be  baptized,  every  one  of  you." — Acts,  ii.,  38.  Now, 
faith  and  repentance  are  essential  movements  in  the  work 
of  the  Spirit ;  we  can  do  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  with- 
out his  gift.  What  our  Savior  and  his  apostle  say,  there- 
fore, on  those  two  occasions,  amounts  precisely  to  this  : 
"  Seek  ye  the  gift  of  the  Spirit,  in  order  to  faith  and  repent- 
ance, and  then  he  baptized ;"  and  we  may  as  reasonably  as- 
sume from  this  that  we  must,  at  one  and  the  same  instant, 
"  believe  and  be  baptized,"  "  repent  and  be  baptized,"  and 
that  faith  and  repentance  are  produced  by  baptism's  being, 
jointly  with  the  Spirit,  their  source  and  cau^e,  as  we  may 


212  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

assume  from  what  Christ  says  in  John,  iii.,  5,  that  we 
must  be  born  of  water  and  born  of  the  Spirit  at  one  and 
the  same  instant,  and  that  the  latter  birth  is  effected  by 
the  former  as  its  joint  source  and  cause.  The  order  of 
statement  is  indeed  changed.  Faith  and  repentance,  as 
included  in  the  gift  of  the  Spirit,  are  named  before  bap- 
tism, while  in  the  text  the  gift  of  the  Spirit,  as  includ- 
ing faith  and  repentance,  is  named  after  baptism  5  and 
yet  the  things  named  in  both  cases  are  themselves  the 
same.  We  may,  it  is  true,  say  that  the  gift  of  the  Spirit 
includes  more  than  faith  and  repentance,  even  the  power 
to  believe  and  to  repent.  Still,  this  is  but  saying  that 
the  power  itself,  like  the  faith  and  repentance  which 
spring  from  it,  is  made  by  Christ  and  his  apostle  an  an- 
lecedent  to  baptism.  This,  however,  is,  in  other  words, 
as  effectually  as  by  the  former  inference  to  overthrow 
the  theory  that  the  power  here  intended  (which  may, 
peradventure,  be  what  the  theorists  mean  by  the  seed, 
the  germ,  the  principle  of  the  new  life)  is  the  mysteri- 
ous and  awful  gift  of  the  Spirit  in  and  of  the  baptismal 
waters.  If  we  say  that  faith  and  repentance,  as  included 
in  the  gift  of  the  Spirit,  are  and  must  be  communicated 
in  and  of  baptism,  then,  so  far  as  it  affects  the  case  of 
infants,  we  contradict  the  Church,  which  says  that  these 
are  things  which  "  infants,  by  reason  of  their  tender 
age,  can  not  perform."  And  if  we  say  that  the  gift  of 
the  Spirit  includes  more  than  faith  and  repentance,  even 
the  power  to  believe  and  repent,  while  yet  we  insist  that 
this  power  is  and  must  be  communicated  in  and  of  bap- 
tism, then  we  contradict  Christ  and  his  apostle,  who  put 
faith  and  repentance,  flowing  out  of  that  power,  as  an- 
tecedents to  the  baptism  of  adults.  Either  way  we  over- 
throw the  theory  by  showing  the  actual  if  not  the  ne- 
cessary separation,  in  point  of  time,  between  the  birth  by 
water  and  the  birth  by  the  Spirit. 


THE  NATURE  OP  BAPTISM.  213 

Whether  the  power  to  believe  and  repent  can  be  given 
to  the  infant  in  baptism,  to  be  kept  for  exercise  in  riper 
years,  or  to  be  lost  by  post-baptismal  sins,  is,  in  fact,  a 
question  identical  with  that  so  largely  discussed  when 
considering  the  suggestions  arising  out  of  the  first  chap- 
ter on  baptism.  Its  farther  discussion,  therefore,  need 
not  here  be  renewed.  It  may,  indeed,  be  said,  that  by 
nature,  and  in  our  worst  estate  through  sin,  we  all  have 
a  power  to  believe  and  repent ;  that  what  we  want  is 
only  the  will  to  exercise  that  power ;  and  that  therefore 
the  office  of  the  Spirit  in  infant  baptism  consists  in  giv- 
ing us  a  new  and  '■'•good  will  ;''^  and  then,  in  riper  years, 
"  working  with  us  when  we  have  that  good  will."  This, 
however,  is  only  shifting  the  difficulty  to  a  new  term, 
although  it  shows  more  clearly  than  ever  the  moral  im- 
possibility that  the  office  of  the  Spirit  should  be  per- 
formed on  unconscious  infancy.  If  there  be  any  thing 
that  requires  the  concurrence  of  our  conscious  volition, 
it  is  a  change  of  the  will  from  evil  to  good.  How  this 
change  is  produced  by  the  Spirit,  even  in  the  use  of 
Truth,  we  may  never  be  able  fully  to  fathom.  But  these 
two  things,  I  think,  we  may  know :  1.  The  office  of  the 
Spirit  consists  in  a  change  of  the  will  from  evil  to  good, 
and  not  in  imparting  a  literally  new  wiU.  The  Christian 
is  not  a  being  who  has  two  separate  wills,  the  one  evil 
and  the  other  good.  He  has,  and  can  have,  like  other 
men,  but  one  power,  or  faculty  of  willing,  though  that 
one  faculty  may  be  so  strongly  solicited  and  drawn  con- 
trary ways  by  contrary  inducements,  as  almost  to  make 
him  feel,  at  times,  as  though  he  had  two  separate  wills. 
And  yet  he  has  not,  and  can  not  have  ;  and  the  office  of 
the  Divine  Spirit  with  him  consists  in  simply  changing 
his  naturally  eml  will  to  a  will  graciously  good  ^  and 
then  continually  "  working  with  him"  that  this  good  will 
may,  on  the  whole,  be  governor  of  his  inner  man,  de- 


214  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

spite  the  numberless  solicitations  to  evil  which  he  feels. 
2.  A  change  of  the  will  can  not  be  effected  without  the 
concurrence  or  an  exercise  of  the  will.  This  is  a  con- 
scious act,  and,  therefore,  can  not  be  performed  in  un- 
conscious  infancy.  The  will  changes  only  as  it  sees  rea- 
sons for  change.  I  say  not  that  the  will  of  the  infant  is 
incapable  of  action.  It  evidently  does  act  under  the 
promptings  of  bodily  appetite  and  bodily  pain.  But 
upon  moral  and  spiritual  truths  and  objects  it  is  incapa- 
ble of  action,  because  Reason  is  not  yet  so  developed 
as  to  be  able  to  comprehend  them.  How  early  Reason 
may  become  so  far  developed  as  to  be  able  to  compre- 
hend at  least  the  simple  and  sovereign  elements  of  these 
things,  in  order  that,  through  them,  the  Spirit  may  ef- 
fect a  change  of  the  natural  will,  it  is  not  for  me  to  say. 
I  only  suggest  that  there  is  a  period,  longer  or  shorter, 
in  the  infancy  or  childhood  of  every  human  being,  du- 
ring which  God  is  pleased  to  leave  both  the  reason  and 
the  will  incapable  of  being  exercised  upon  the  truths  and 
objects  of  the  spiritual  world,  and,  therefore,  the  will 
itself  incapable  of  being  changed  and  made  a  new  and 
good  will.  This  view,  therefore,  strengthens  the  con- 
clusion formerly  reached,  that,  on  the  principles  of  that 
nature  in  which  God  has  constituted  man,  the  office  of 
the  Spirit  can  not  be  performed  on  the  w^ireasoning,  un- 
thinking,  w?iconscious  infant. 

2.  But,  to  leave  this  momentary  digression,  and  to 
return  upon  the  text,  I  urge,  in  the  second  place,  that 
in  these  words  our  Savior  does  not  say  that,  in  bap- 
tism, "  God,  by  His  Spirit,  moves  again  on  the  face  of 
the  waters,  sanctifies  them  for  our  cleansing ;  and  cleans- 
es us  thereby."  This  is  another  of  the  points  quietly 
but  groundlessly  assumed  under  the  false  canon  of  in- 
terpretation to  which  I  have  adverted.  If  we  may  as- 
sume such  mysteries  as  implied  when  not  a  word  is 


THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM.  215 

said  of  them  in  the  text  which  we  may  happen  to  be  in- 
terpreting, then  we  may  assume  any  thing  we  please  ; 
and  so,  again,  if  we  can  not  find,  may  at  least  make  as 
much  Scripture  to  our  purpose  as  Ave  need. 

I  do  not  forget,  in  this  connection,  what  our  Church 
says  in  her  baptismal  office:  that  God,  "by  the  bap- 
tism of  his  well-beloved  Son  Jesus  Christ  in  the  River 
Jordan,  did  sanctify  water  to  the  mystical  washing  away 
of  sin."  I  have  already  briefly  alluded  to  this  expres- 
sion ;  but  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  notice  it  again.  What 
meaneth  our  Church,  then,  by  this  language  1  What 
can  she  mean,  but  that,  according  to  the  established 
use  and  sense  of  the  word  '■'■sanctify,^''  when  applied  to 
external  things,  God,  by  that  great  act,  did  separate  and 
set  apart,  not  all  waters,  but  the  element  of  water,  to  the 
religious  use  there  designated  ;  or,  as  our  Church  ex- 
presses it,  "  to  the  mystical  washing  away  of  sin  V 
But,  mark  what  she  says:  "the  mystical,''''  not  the  effi- 
cient ;  the  typical,  not  the  actual  ;  the  symbolizing,  not  the 
operated  "  washing  away  of  sin."  In  other  words,  by  the 
baptism  of  Christ,  God  designated  water  to  be  perpetual- 
ly a  mystical  seal  of  the  pardon  of  sin,  and  a  mystical  sym- 
bol oi purification  from  sin.  This  is  all  that  the  sense  of 
the  words  "  sanctify"  and  "  mystical"  requires ;  and  it 
is,  undoubtedly,  the  true  meaning  of  what  our  Church 
says.  Whether  it  be,  however,  or  be  not,  and  whatever 
her  meaning  may  be,  it  can  never  justify  any  one  in  as- 
suming, for  Christ's  words  in  the  text,  the  meaning  put 
upon  them,  that  "  God,  by  His  Spirit,  moves  again  on 
the  face  of  the  waters,  sanctifies  them  for  our  cleansing, 
and  cleanses  us  thereby."  If  we  may  assume  this,  when 
the  Divine  speaker  says  nothing  of  the  kind,  then,  I  re- 
peat, we  may  assume  any  thing  not  impossible  or  ab- 
surd ;  and  so,  if  we  can  not  draxo  our  creed  from  the 
Bible,  may  at  least /orce  our  creed  upon  the  Bible. 


216  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

3.  Again :  passing  from  the  birth  of  water  to  that  of 
the  Spirit,  and  leaving  the  point  of  time  for  the  present 
out  of  the  question,  I  urge,  in  the  third  place,  that  when 
Christ  says  we  must  be  "  born  of  the  Spirit,"  He  does 
not  say  that  this  is  not  only  "  a  gift  of  God,"  but  also 
as  "  illimitable  and  incomprehensible  as  that  great  mys- 
tery from  which  it  flows,  the  incarnation  of  our  Re- 
deemer;" nor  does  He  say  that  "  the  Holy  Spirit  gives 
us  a  new  life  in  the  fountain  opened  by  Him,  we  being 
born  therein  q/Him,  even  as  our  blessed  and  incarnate 
Lord  was,  according  to  the  flesh,  born  of  Him  in  the 
Virgin's  womb."  This  is  still  another  point  most  gra- 
tuitously assumed  under  the  false  canon  of  interpreta- 
tion which  I  have  named.  What  matters  it  how  many 
ancient  writers  say  that  the  birth  of  the  Spirit  consists 
in  such  a  mystery  1  Does  their  assertion  prove  that 
these  simple  words  of  Christ  carry  so  absurd  a  sense  ] 
Suppose  that  one  of  them  does  say  that,  in  the  baptism 
by  water,  "  the  sinful  flesh  is  changed  into  the  body  of 
Christ,^''*  does  this  prove  that  Christ  put  this  actual 
seed  of  transubstantiation  into  baptism,  that  He  might 
ripen  the  fruit  of  it  in  the  Lord^s  Supper  ?  I  pray,  where 
must  this  strange  system  of  interpreting  Christ  have  its 
end,  but  in  a  monster-body  of  false  divinity,  practically 
overlaying,  and  in  effect  crushing  out  the  life  of  that 
beautiful  and  shapely  body  of  Truth  which  He  once  in- 
formed with  His  Spirit  and  made  quickening  to  our  souls  1 

When  Nicodemus,  misapprehending  Christ's  meaning 
about  being  "  born  again,"  and  supposing,  from  the  force 
of  the  word  employed,  that  it  implied  the  necessity  of 
a  man's  being  literally  born  a  second  time,  inquired,  "  How 
can  these  things  be  1"  Christ  reproved  him ;  not,  how- 
ever, because  Nicodemus  doubted  the  possibility  of  so 
absurd  an  operation,  but  because,  being  "  a  master  in 
*  Leo,  quoted  by  Dr.  Pusey  on  Baptism,  Tract  67,  p.  46. 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  217 

Israel,"  a  teacher  of  God's  people,  he  did  not  know  bet- 
ter than  to  suppose  the  acknowledged  Divine  Teacher 
before  him  intended  so  monstrous  an  idea.  Had  the 
thought  which  Nicodemus  conceived  been  truly  Christ's 
meaning,  his  question  had  been  a  sensible  one,  and 
Christ  would  have  answered  it,  not  in  a  reproving,  but 
in  an  explanatory  way.  And  yet  the  operation,  ascribed 
by  this  false  canon  of  interpretation  to  baptism  by  wa- 
ter, is  as  incredible  as  that  to  which  Nicodemus  sup- 
posed our  Savior  to  refer  j  and  if  the  mystery  of  the 
new  birth  of  the  Spirit  consist  in  what  is  here  assumed 
for  it,  we  may  reasonably  ask  the  "Nicodemus  ques- 
tion," "  How  can  these  things  be'?"  and  our  question 
would  deserve,  not  a  reproof,  but  an  explanation  such 
as  hath  never  yet  been  given  by  either  the  Great 
Master  himself  or  any  of  his  subordinate  teachers. 
But  if  that  new  birth  consist  in  no  such  thing  as  that 
assumed,  then  the  question,  by  taking  such  a  meaning 
for  granted,  would  be  impertinent,  and  they  Avho  asked 
it  might  well  be  reproved,  as  masters  in  God's  Christian 
Israel,  for  supposing  that  our  Divine  teacher's  weighty 
words  meant  so  impossible  a  process  ! 

4.  Throwing  away,  then,  all  these  groundlessly-as- 
sumed  meanings  of  Christ's  words,  let  us,  with  humble 
minds,  endeavor  to  ascertain,  so  far  as  we  may,  what  is 
their  true  sense. 

"  The  kingdom  of  God"  mentioned  in  John,  iii.,  5,  has 
two  conditions  :  the  one  in  time,  the  other  in  eternity  ; 
the  one  on  earth,  the  other  in  heaven  ;  the  one  prepara- 
tory, the  o\.h.ev  final  ;  the  one  ior  p)robation,  the  other  for 
rewards.  To  these  two  conditions  of  the  kingdom,  bap- 
tism and  renewal,  the  symbolical  regeneration  and  the  real, 
bear  analogous  relations.  Without  baptism  we  can  not 
enter  the  kingdom  on  earth,  without  renewal  we  can  not 
enter  the  kingdom  in  heaven.  This,  I  apprehend,  will 
T 


218  THE   NATURE    OF   BAPTISUf, 

he  regarded  as  a  statement  fully  sustained  by  the  gen- 
eral teachings  of  the  Bible. 

Now,  with  this  general  view,  the  particular  words  of 
Christ  in  the  text  exactly  agree.  Understanding  "the 
kingdom  of  God"  to  be  there  spoken  of  in  its  compre- 
hension, or  as  including  both  its  earthly  or  temporal,  and 
its  heavenly  or  eternal  state,  it  is  abundantly  evident 
that  Christ  means  to  say,  "  the  birth  of  water,"  or  bap- 
tism, is  necessary  as  our  act  or  privilege  of  entering 
"  the  kingdom"  here,  while  "the  birth  of  the  Spirit,"  or 
inward  renewing,  is  necessary  as  our  meetness  or  prep- 
aration for  enjoying  "the  kingdom"  hereafter.  With 
this,  too,  the  language  of  our  Church  accords  when  it 
represents  the  water  in  baptism  as  "  an  outivard  and  vis- 
ible sign,^''  while  it  recognizes  "  the  death  unto  sin  and 
the  new  birth  unto  righteousness"  as  "Me  inward  and 
spiritual  grace,''''  or  '•'■things  signified.'''' 

It  may,  indeed,  be  inquired,  What,  then,  does  our 
Church  mean  when  she  says  of  a  sacrament,  in  general, 
that  it  is  not  only  an  '"  outward  and  visible  sign  of  an 
inward  and  spiritual  grace,"  but  also  "  a  means  whereby 
we  receive  the  same  V  or  when  she  says  of  baptism  in 
particular,  "  we  are  hereby  made  the  children  of  grace  V 
To  this  question,  however,  a  satisfactory  reply  will,  I 
apprehend,  be  attended  with  no  difficulty. 

Why  are  we  required  to  be  "born  of  water,"  or  bap- 
tized %  Because  it  is  Christ's  ordained  mode  oi  becom- 
ing members  of  His  Church  or  kingdom  on  earth.  And 
why  are  we  required  to  be  "born  of  the  Spirit,"  or  re- 
newed unto  holiness^.  Because,  in  every  one  capable 
and  guilty  of  actual  sin,  it  is  that  "without  which  no 
man  can  see  the  Lord,"  or  be  happy  with  Him  in  heav- 
en. These  points  are  clear.  But  why  are  we  required 
to  enter  the  Church  here  in  order  to  our  entering  heavens 
hereafter  1     This  is  the  point  on  which  we  now  seek 


THE    NATUKE    OF    BAPTISM.  ^19> 

light.  I  answer,  then,  because  whatever  God,  in  his 
unfathomable  goodness  and  abundant  power,  may  be 
pleased  to  do  in  saving  men  by  His  Spirit  and  His  Truth, 
in  places  where  His  Church  is  not  known,  or  not  fully 
and  regularly  organized,  still  His  Church  was  and  is  in- 
tended to  be  that  great  Divine  system  of  means  and  in- 
struments, in  the  use  of  which  He  ordinarily  holds 
present  intercourse  with  men's  minds,  reaches  their 
hearts,  renews,  sanctifies,  and  edifies  them  "  unto  the 
perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  full- 
ness of  Christ."  His  ordinary  way  now  is,  not  to  make 
us,  in  infancy,  partakers  of  an  unutterable  mystery,  that 
we  may  thus  become  members  of  His  Church  (all  Scrip- 
ture is  opposed  to  this  view),  but  to  take  us,  in  infancy, 
as  members  of  His  Church,  that  we  may,  with  our  first 
opening  susceptibilities  and  powers,  find  ourselves  in 
holy  associations  and  under  holy  influences,  and  thus 
realize  the  best  means,  opportunities,  and  incitements 
for  seeking  and  obtaining  the  knowledge,  love,  and  obe- 
dience of  God  and  His  Word  ;  for  becoming  "  renewed 
in  the  Spirit  of  our  minds,"  and  thus  for  ripening  unto 
His  heavenly  kingdom.  His  first  act,  now,  is,  not  to 
perform  a  miracle  on  our  unconscious  infancy,  that  He 
may  thus  make  us  members  of  His  Church,  and  yet 
leave  us  morally  sure  to  fall  into  the  awful  aggravations 
oi post-baptismal  sin,  but  to  adopt  us  in  infancy,  into  His 
family  as  His  graciously,  though  undeservedly  privi- 
leged children,  that  He  may  the  better  discipline  us  for 
our  actual  sins,  bring  us  to  "repentance  toward  God, 
and  to  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  and  thus 
make  us  finally  holy  as  He  is  holy,  and  perfect  as  He  is 
perfect.  His  way  is  to  enter  us  very  early  into  His 
school,  though  perfectly  ignorant  and  defiled  in  our  ig- 
norance, that  He  may  the  more  successfully  teach  us 
of   His  ways  and  *'  make   us    wise    unto    salvation," 


220  THE    NATURE    OF   BAPTISM. 

through  that  "  meekly-received"  and  inwardly  "  in- 
grafted Word,"  by  which  His  Spirit  instructs  us  unto 
Christ,  and  which,  thus  used  and  received,  "  is  able  to 
save  our  souls."  Such,  manifestly,  is  the  great  office 
and  place  of  His  Church  on  earth,  in  all  her  divinely-ap- 
pointed means  and  influences.  Inasmuch,  then,  as  it  is 
by  baptism  that  we  enter  this  Church,  and  without  bap- 
tism can  not  enter  it,  it  may,  with  no  little  propriety 
and  force,  be  said  that  not  only  is  baptism  "  an  outward 
and  visible  sign  of  an  inward  and  spiritual  grace,''''  but 
also  "  a  means  whereby  we  receive  the  same,"  being 
^^  thereby  made  children  of  grace,"  brought  into  the  family 
and  school  of  a  most  gracious  God,  and  surrounded 
with  all  His  most  gracious  provisions  and  influences  for 
securing,  what  is  yet  unsecured,  our  souls'  renewal, 
sanctification,  and  eternal  blessedness. 

This  view  fully  satisfies  the  language  of  our  Church 
in  her  Catechism.  It  shows  what  she  means  when  she 
says  that  water  in  baptism  is  "  an  outward  and  visible 
sign  of  an  inward  and  spiritual  grace  ;"  and  that  baptism 
itself  is  "  a  means,"  not  the  means,  as  though  there  were 
no  other,  but  a  means,  one  of  a  great  system  of  means, 
*'  whereby  we  receive''^  the  grace  so  signified.  But  wheth- 
er this  be  her  precise  meaning  or  not,  I  would  humbly 
trust  there  is  evidence  that  it  is  the  general  teaching  of 
the  Word  of  God,  and  in  accordance  with  the  particular 
teaching  of  Christ  in  the  text. 

Having  said  thus  much,  then,  by  way  of  collecting  the 
general  sense  of  Scripture  on  the  subject  of  baptism, 
and  of  eliciting  the  particular  meaning  of  the  text,  I 
venture  to  give  the  following  paraphrase  of  these  im- 
portant words  as  expressive  of  their  true  and  full  im- 
port : 

"  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  Except  a  man  be  born 
of  water,  which  in  baptism  mystically  symbolizes,  and  of 


THE    NATURE    OP   BAPTISM.  221 

the  Spirit^  which,  in  reality,  efficiently  works,  the  needed 
renewal  and  sanctification  of  his  nature,  he  can  not  or- 
dinarily be  saved.  Without  the  birth  of  water  he  can 
not  enter  the  Church,  as  the  earthly  state  of  my  king- 
dom, my  constituted  family  and  school  for  his  spiritual 
training  and  discipleship  j  and  without  the  birth  of  the 
Spirit,  he  can  not  enter  heaven,  as  that  future  and  final 
perfection  of  my  kingdom  for  which  that  spiritual  train- 
ing and  discipleship  are  designed  to  fit  him." 

Touching,  now,  the  point  of  time,  as  involved  in  the 
text,  the  conclusion  is  undeniable,  that,  in  what  Christ 
says.  He  does  not  tie  the  birth  of  the  Spirit  unto  the  birth 
of  water.  He  does  not  make  the  two  simultaneous, 
or  wrought  at  one  and  the  same  instant.  He  places  the 
one  as  a  Divine  symbol  of  the  other.  He  indicates  the 
ceremonial  as  an  introduction  to  the  way  which  ordina- 
rily leads  to  the  spiritual.  He  ordains  baptism  as  the 
gate  of  entrance  into  His  kingdom  on  earth  ;  and  he  re- 
veals the  Spirit^s  work  of  renewing  and  sanctifying  grace 
as  that  without  which  no  actual  sinner  can  possibly  en- 
ter His  kingdom  in  heaven.  But  he  leaves  the  time  when 
the  symbol  shall  be  followed  by  the  thing  symbolized  to 
be  decided  by  that  which  alone  can  decide  the  question 
of  every  man's  salvation,  the  movements  of  God's  Spir- 
it and  truth,  of  His  grace  and  providence,  on  the  minds 
of  those  multitudes  to  whom  His  Church  and  His  Gos- 
pel come. 

In  accordance  with  this  view,  and  in  confirmation  of 
it,  we  can  not  fail  to  remark  that,  as  a  symbol  of  the 
Spirit's  renewing  and  sanctifying  work  through  the  in- 
strumentality of  God's  quickening  and  purifying  truth, 
water  is  the  most  appropriate  and  beautiful  element  that 
could  have  been  named.  How  it  gives  new  life  and 
strength  to  the  fainting,  dying  pilgrim  of  the  Desert ! 
How  it  cleanses  the  dust  and  filth  from  the  body  of  him 
T2 


22^  THE    NATURE    OF   BAPTISM. 

who  has  grown  unclean  through  exposure  or  neglect ! 
And  in  both  these  effects,  how  beautifully  and  appro- 
priately does  it  teach  in  symbol  the  life-giving  and  pu- 
rifying power  of  the  Spirit  upon  the  soul  that  is  dead 
in  sin,  and  defiled  with  both  its  guilt  and  its  corruption  I 

To  the  same  effect,  we  can  not  fail  to  notice  the  fact 
that  the  text  says  nothing  of  the  proper  subjects  of  bap- 
tism. It  leaves  the  seal  of  the  covenant  under  the  Gos- 
pel, as  it  came  in  from  under  the  law,  to  be  applied  gen- 
erally to  the  infant  seed  of  God's  people,  and  yet,  when 
occasion  requires  it,  to  those  adults  who  have  not  re- 
ceived it  in  infancy ;  and,  leaving  these  things  thus, 
goes  at  once  to  its  great  teaching  about  the  Divine  sym- 
bol and  its  substance,  as  needed  in  opening  the  entrance, 
and  in  training  us  on  the  way  which  leads  to  heaven 
and  to  God.  In  this  teaching  it  addresses  an  adult,  and 
is  evidently  designed  to  present  its  main,  its  fundament- 
al truth  to  the  consideration  of  those  capable  of  under- 
standing it.  In  its  chief  import,  it  is  but  another  in- 
stance of  what  the  Bible  says  to  those  who  are  under 
the  Bible,  and  who  may  be  savingly  affected,  if  by  noth- 
ing more,  by  its  simple  and  sovereign  elements  of  truth. 

There  are  many  other  passages  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment which  refer  to  baptism.  But  their  reference  to  it 
is  indirect  or  incidental,  while  there  is  nothing  in  them 
from  which  we  can  derive  aid  in  determining  the  true 
nature  of  this  Christian  ordinance.  They,  of  course,  all 
fall  in  and  harmonize  with  that  view  of  baptism  which, 
by  a  just  application  of  the  principles  of  interpretation, 
may  most  conclusively  be  shown  to  imbody  the  true 
sense  of  those  main  texts  which  have  now  been  exam- 
ined. It  will  not  be  necessary,  therefore,  farther  to 
continue  an  examination  which  has  already  gone  to  a 
length  not  at  first  intended. 

It  is  time  to  gather  up  some  results  from  what  has 


THE  NATURE  OP  BAPTISM.  223 

been  said  by  way  of  a  summary  enumeration  of  what  is 
included  in  the  true  nature  of  baptism.  The  whole  dis- 
cussion, indeed,  has  thus  far  been  devoted  chiefly  to 
what  I  have  deemed  erroneous  views  of  the  subject. 
Still,  no  one  can  have  followed  me  through  this  discus- 
sion without  seeing  that,  in  setting  those  views  aside, 
others,  like  rays  from  an  uncovered  light,  have  all  along 
been  silently  beaming  forth  from  those  Scriptures  of 
Truth  from  which  the  obscurings  of  a  false  sense  have 
been  successively  withdrawn. 

1.  In  the  first  place,  then,  as  an  institution  of  Christ, 
and  as  an  act  of  God,  baptism  is  a  badge  of  our  Christian 
profession. 

It  is  not  thus  characterized  by  any  particular  text, 
but  this  character  follows  from  the  nature  of  the  case, 
and  especially  from  the  fact  (which  for  the  present  I 
assume)  that,  under  Christ,  baptism  takes  the  place  of 
circumcision  as  a  seal  of  the  covenant  of  grace.  Circum- 
cision, we  know,  was  the  peculiar  visible  badge  and 
mark  of  God's  ancient  people,  distinguishing  them  from 
all  others,  and  stringently  holding  them  to  fidelity  to 
Him  who  had  graciously  taken  them  to  be  his  chosen 
race.  As  the  new  form  of  this  seal,  then,  baptism  has 
the  same  force.  It  marks  the  Christian  people  of  God 
as  distinct  and  separate  from  the  world,  and  most  bind- 
ingly  holds  them  to  fidelity  to  Him  whose  glorious  name 
they  wear,  and  to  whom  they  belong  by  solemn  cove- 
nant. Under  these  blessed  obligations,  baptized  infarUs 
may  be  considered  as  properly  placed.  As  of  old,  in 
the  case  of  circumcision,  baptism  is  the  seal,  not  of  their 
originally  and  intelligently  covenanting  with  God,  but 
of  His  gracious  and  holy  covenant  with  them.  He  has 
most  condescendingly  and  lovingly  bound  Himself  to 
them  on  the  conditions  of  the  Gospel ;  and  to  these  con- 
ditions, with  all  that  they  involve,  of  holy  faithfulness 


224  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

and  obedience,  He  holds  them  in  most  sacred  bonds.  He 
does  not  ask  them  whether  they  can  or  will  consent  to  these 
bonds  :  He  puts  them  under  tlieir  binding,  as  one  of  the 
most  precious  favors  which  he  could  confer.  That  He  has 
a  right  thus  to  put  them  under  bonds  to  Himself,  and  to  treat 
them  according  to  their  fidelity,  or  want  of  fidelity,  to  their 
obligations,  none  can  doubt.  But  this  is  a  low  view.  He 
is  most  good  and  loving  in  laying  these  bonds  on  them  :  in- 
finitely more  so  than  the  kindly  wise  parent  who  hedges 
about  the  path  of  a  wayward  child  to  prevent  him,  if  possi- 
hle,  from  plunging  into  irrecoverable  ruin. 

Nor  are  these  bonds  one  of  the  greatest  of  blessings  to 
the  Christian  alone  as  an  individual.  They  are  designed  to 
be  one  of  the  best  of  safeguards  to  the  Church  also  as  a  body. 
As  affording  ground  for  whatever  is  needed  of  salutary,  ma- 
ternal discipline  upon  those  who  walk  unworthily  of  their 
vocation,  they  are  intended  to  be  to  the  Church  as  a  whole^ 
like  the  wall  to  the  vineyard,  her  security  against  destruc- 
tion from  the  ravages  of  unholy  principle  and  of  ungodly  ex- 
ample. Those  who  walk  thus  unworthily,  having  been 
brought  into  the  Church  by  her  iapiism^  may  be  cast  out, 
or  reformed  by  her  discipline.  God  hath  given  her  this 
power  for  the  common  good  of  all. 

2.  In  the  second  place,  as  un  institution  of  Christ,  and  as 
revealing  the  mind  of  God,  baptism  is  a  symbol  of  our  re- 
generation. 

This  is  not  a  contested  point,  any  more  than  the  corre- 
sponding one  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  that  the  consecrated  el- 
ements of  bread  and  wine  are  symbols  of  the  sacrifice  of  the 
body  and  blood  of  Clirist.  It  is  admitted,  in  both  cases, 
that  the  outward  parts  are  symbols  of  the  inivard ;  the  ma- 
terial, of  the  spiritual.  The  controversy,  so  far  as  baptism 
is  concerned,  therefore,  turns  not  on  this,  but  on  another 
point,  whether  the  symbol  is  also,  jointly  with  the  Spirit,  tho 
source  and  cause  of  regeneration  in  the  sense  of  an  actual 


THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM.  225 

impartation  even  to  infants  of  a  new  and  spiritual  life  ;  of  a 
communication  to  the  recipient  of  the  very  Divine  substance, 
or  nature.  This  point,  however,  I  have  already  examined 
at  sufficient  length.  It  is  not  necessary,  therefore,  to  touch 
it  now  ;  nor  will  it  be  necessary  to  dwell  long  on  the  un- 
contested  point,  that  baptism  is  a  symhol  of  the  true  regener- 
ation. 

This  is  implied  in  several  of  the  texts  which  have  been 
examined,  particularly  in  those  principal  ones  which  speak 
of  our  being  "  born  of  water  and  the  Spirit,"  and  of  our  be- 
ing "  saved  by  the  washing  of  regeneration,  and  the  renew- 
ing of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Whatever  else  may  be  disputed 
here,  this,  at  least,  will  be  admitted  by  all,  that  the  birth  of 
water  is  a  symbol  of  that  of  the  Spirit,  and  that  the  washing 
of  regeneration  is  a  symbol  of  the  renewing  of  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

On  these  and  similar  texts  it  must  be  that  our  Church,  in 
her  office  of  baptism,  takes  her  stand  when  she  says  that 
"  Baptism  doth  represent  unto  us  our  profession,  which  is, 
to  follow  the  example  of  our  Savior,  Christ,  and  to  be  made 
like  unto  Him  :  that,  as  he  died  and  rose  again  for  us,  so 
should  we  who  are  baptized  die  from  sin,  and  rise  again  unto 
righteousness."  It  can  represent  this  only  in  its  character 
as  a  symbol  of  so  important  a  change.  The  Catechism,  too, 
expressly  says,  that  baptism  is  "  an  outward  and  visible 
sign  of  an  inward  and  spiritual  grace." 

In  its  character  as  a  symbol  of  regeneration,  baptism  seems 
originally  to  have  represented  tv^o  great  facts,  with  the 
truths  which  these  facts  involve  :  1.  The  fact  of  our  spirit, 
ual  resurrection  in  this  life  ;  "  the  renewing  of  the  Holy 
Ghost ;"  involving  the  truths  that,  by  nature,  we  are  "  dead 
in  trespasses  and  sins,"  and  that,  therefore,  we  must  be 
"born  again"  to  a  new  and  spiritual  life.  As  a  symbol  of 
this  change,  baptism  is  called  "  the  washing  of  regenera- 
tion."   2.  The  fact  of  our  literal  resurrection  from  the  grave 


S26  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

to  that  new  state  of  glory  which  is  to  succeed,  involving  the 
truths  that  Christ  died  and  rose  again,  and  that,  as  the  cer- 
tain fruits  of  His  death  and  resurrection,  all  true  Christians 
shall  literally  follow  him  in  both,  and  in  the  glory  which  is 
to  ensue.  As  a  symbol  of  this  change,  baptism  represents 
our  passing  from  the  death  of  the  body  to  that  future  life  of 
blessedness  with  Christ,  which  he  himself  calls  "  The  re- 
generation when  the  Son  of  Man  shall  sit  on  the  throne  of 
His  glory." — Matt.,  xix.,  28.  We  have  already  seen  rea- 
sons for  believing  that  the  early  Christians,  at  their  baptism, 
professed  and  sealed  their  faith  in  the  fact  of  Christ's  resur- 
rection from  the  dead,  and  in  the  doctrine  of  the  future  res- 
urrection of  their  own  bodies.  Of  this  resurrection,  there- 
fore, as  well  as  of  the  other,  baptism  may  still  be  considered 
the  symbol ;  the  teaching  representation.  In  this  sense,  it 
is  full  of  important  meaning  and  power.  The  truths  which 
it  "holds  forth,"  when  received  by  a  living yat7/i  into  minds 
renewed  by  the  Spirit,  do  operate  mightily  to  the  strength- 
ening of  hope,  courage,  and  constancy,  in  meeting,  sustain- 
ing, and  overcoming  all  those  conflicts,  trials,  and  persecu- 
tions to  which,  for  Christ's  sake,  we  may  in  this  life  be  ex- 
posed. 

3.  In  the  third  place,  as  an  institution  of  Christ,  and  as  an 
ordinance  through  which  God  continually  brings  Himself 
into  action  among  His  people,  baptism  is  an  initiatory  rite. 

Hereby,  God  brings  us  into  his  Church,  and  makes  us 
"  children"  in  His  family  on  earth  ;  "  members  of  Christ''s'^ 
body  in  this  world,  and  "  heirs  of  his  kingdom"  in  the  next. 
His  benign  intention  in  this  is  to  gather  around  us,  at 
the  earliest  possible  period  of  opening  reason,  understand- 
ing and  conscience,  every  possible  advantage  and  favoring 
influence  for  deciding  the  great  question  for  eternity,  wheth- 
er we  are  also  to  be  children  of  His  family  in  heaven ; 
members  of  Christ's  glorified  body  in  the  world  to  come  ; 
and  inheritors  by  actual  possession,  as  well  as  heirs  by  con- 


THE    NATURE    OP    BAPTISM.  227 

ditional  promise,  of  His  everlasting  kingdom  ?  To  this  view- 
allusion  was  made  in  explaining  the  text  (John,  iii.,  5) ;  it 
expresses  all  that  need  be  understood  by  the  second  answer 
in  our  Catechism ;  and  it  is  implied  in  the  last  great  com- 
mand and  promise  of  the  Savior  to  His  disciples — "  Go  ye 
and  leach  all  nations,"  or  make  disciples  of  them  ;  enter 
them  into  my  school ;  "  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost." — Matt., 
xxviii.,  19.  "  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized,  shall  be 
saved." — Mark,  xvi.,  16.  In  the  case  oi  infants,  baptism  is 
the  first  known  act  of  God  in  drawing  them  within  the  cir- 
cle of  His  future  gracious  influences  ;  and  in  the  case  of 
adults,  the  whole  testimony  of  the  New  Testament  touching 
this  point  shows,  as  we  have  seen,  that  the  first  thing,  af- 
ter their  renewing  by  the  Spirit,  was  their  initiation  into  the 
Church  by  baptism  ;  upon  which  sometimes  followed  the 
extraordinary  gift  of  the  Spirit ;  while  always  followed  those 
graciously  nurturing  and  ripening  influences,  needed  to  per- 
fect them  for  "  the  general  assembly  and  Church  of  the  first- 
born, which  are  written  in  heaven." 

In  order  to  entrance  into  the  Church  on  earth,  it  surely 
is  not  necessary,  as  the  theory  which  has  been  opposed 
assumes,  that  a  "  miracle"  be  wrought  in  an  outward  ordi- 
nance, giving  us  beforehand  the  very  thing,  ay,  and  more 
than  the  veryjhing,  for  which  we  enter  that  dispensation 
of  means.  Nor  is  it  at  all  certain  that  those  who,  by  bap- 
tism, enter  the  Church  on  earth,  will,  in  fact,  by  inward  re- 
newal and  sanctification,  enter  the  Church  in  heaven.  God, 
as  our  gracious  Father,  has  many  "  children'''  in  His  family 
on  earth  who  prove  disobedient,  and  so  become  the  subjects 
of  His  just  judgment.  There  are  many  "  members  of  Christ" 
in  this  world  who  resemble  the  unfruitful,  because  the  dead 
branches  of  a  vine,  and  who  will,  therefore,  be  cut  off"  and 
cast  into  the  burning  prepared  for  them.  And  there  are 
many  "  heirs  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven'^  who,  through  a  re- 


228  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

fusal  to  comply  with  the  conditions  of  their  heirship,  will  be 
disinherited,  and  banished  forever  from  among  the  true  sons 
of  God.  AH  this  comports  not  only  with  the  suggestions 
of  observation,  but  also  with  the  language  of  Scripture. 
Still,  as  a  general  fact,  I  doubt  not  it  will  be  found  that, 
among  those  who  enter  heaven  at  last,  after  having  once 
become  actual  sinners,  the  great  mass  will  be  of  those  who 
have  entered  the  Church  by  baptism,  either  in  infancy  or 
in  "  riper  years  ;"  and  who  have  thus  come  within  that  cir- 
cle of  His  gracious  influences,  which  God  has  prescribed 
for  our  salvation. 

The  question,  I  know,  is  sometimes  asked,  "  Supposing 
the  case  of  two  children  in  the  same  neighborhood,  of  sim- 
ilar families,  of  equal  capacities,  and  surrounded  by  the 
same  means  of  religious  instruction  ;  the  one,  however,  bap- 
tized into  the  Church,  and  the  other  unhaptized :  would  the 
former  be  any  more  likely,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  to  be  saved 
than  the  latter  ;  or  any  more  likely  to  be  brought  to  that 
repentance,  faith,  and  holiness,  which  are  necessary  to 
salvation  ?"  This  question,  however,  does  not  present  the 
true  point  for  consideration.  We  might,  indeed,  answer 
such  a  question  aff,rmatively,  and,  doing  so,  find  ourselves 
ultimately  sustained  by  facts.  But  suppose  we  were  to 
answer  it  negatively,  and  even  admit  that  possibly  the  bap- 
tized child  might  become  "  a  reprobate  and  a  castaway" 
while  the  unbaptized  was  brought  to  Christ,  and  made  final- 
ly an  ornament  of  His  Church  on  earth,  and  an  inheritor  of 
glory  in  heaven  ;  still,  this  would  not  touch  the  real  point 
in  the  case.  The  grand  question  is,  Whence  come  the  means 
of  religious  instruction  which  the  two  children  receive,  and 
receive  with  such  possibly  different  effect  1  Come  they 
not  from  God  through  His  Church  ?  Would  they  have  ever 
been  accessible  to  the  imbaptized,  had  not  God  organized 
His  Church,  and  given  it  His  Word  and  ordinances,  and 
laid  on  men  the  work  of  dispensing  them  as  His  stewards  ? 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  229 

What  had  ever  been  known  of  these  things  but  for  "  the 
Church  of  the  living  God  ?"  And  where  had  the  Church 
been  but  for  that  baptism,  through  which,  as  by  an  open 
door,  God  is  continually  entering  us,  in  order  to  keep  up  the 
intended  succession  of  teachers  and  hearers  of  the  Truth, 
and  the  designed  perpetuity  of  the  knowledge  and  worship 
of  Himself?  Say  not.  He  might  have  done  all  this  without 
a  church  and  without  baptism.  He  has  not  chosen  to  do  so, 
and,  therefore,  it  is  to  us  the  same  as  though  to  do  so  had 
been  impossible.  Practically,  then,  the  true  state  of  the 
case  is  this  :  There  had  been  no  Divine  Truth,  no  Divine 
influences,  no  means  of  grace,  no  Christian  instruction,  with- 
out the  Church  ;  there  had  been  no  Church  without  baptism, 
as  that  gate  of  entrance,  by  which  the  Divine  succession 
of  means  and  instruments  is  perpetuated  ;  and  thus,  with 
truth  it  may  be  said,  that,  without  that  baptism,  in  despite 
of  whose  solemn  obligations  the  reprobate  and  castaway 
child  goes  on  in  sin,  the  healings  of  the  Spirit  of  life  had 
never  reached  and  saved  the  unbaptized ;  while,  at  the 
same  time,  even  his  salvation,  though  begun  before  outward 
ordinances,  is  yet  ordinarily  to  be  carried  forward  and  per- 
fected under  the  gracious  means  to  which  adult  baptism  in- 
troduces its  subject. 

Here,  then,  we  reach  one  of  the  strongest  views  possible 
of  the  importance  of  baptism  in  general,  and  of  infant  bap- 
tism in  particular.  Can  we,  at  too  early  a  period,  be 
brought  within  that  gracious  circle,  which,  if  it  do  not  cir- 
cumscribe, is  yet  most  fully  and  vitally  pervaded  by'  the  in- 
fluences and  mercies  of  God  for  the  salvation  of  our  souls  I 
Does  not  God,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  show  His  regard  for  the 
seal  of  His  covenant,  as  affixed  in  infant  baptism  ?  Can  we 
tell  at  how  early  a  period  the  moral  susceptibilities,  reason, 
understanding,  and  conscience,  may  possibly  develop  them- 
selves? Can  we,  then,  at  too  early  a  period,  find  ourselves, 
upon  this  opening  of  our  natures,  with  the  seal  of  God's 
U 


230  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

covenant  upon  us,  our  young  minds  looking  up  and  seeing 
the  God  of  that  covenant  in  every  shining  of  His  truth,  and 
feeling  Him  in  all  the  down-pouring  rays  of  His  influence, 
through  every  possible  channel  which  conducts  from  Him, 
the  infinite,  to  us,  the  finite  ?  This,  however,  leads  to  an- 
other view  of  the  nature  of  baptism. 

4.  In  the  fourth  place,  then,  as  an  institution  of  Christ, 
and  as  a  rite  in  which  God  first  presents  Himself  in  action 
among  His  people,  baptism  is  a  covenanting  and  sealing  or- 
dinance. 

Infants,  it  is  true,  are  not  capable  of  intelligently  and  vol- 
untarily entering  into  covenant  with  God,  or  of  receiving,  un- 
derstandingly  and  cordially,  the  forgiveness  of  sin  ;  but 
they  are  capable  of  being  taken  into  covenant  with  God,  and 
of  being  admitted  into  a  state  which  is  endowed  with  the 
sealed  promise  of  forgiveness,  on  the  annexed  terms  of  the 
Gospel. 

Of  this  we  have  sufficient  proof  in  the  case  of  Jewish 
children  under  the  old  dispensation.  They  were  all  cir- 
cumcised "  the  eighth  day,"  and  by  that  act  assumed  with- 
in the  relations  constituted  by  God's  covenant  with  His  an- 
cient people.  The  act  was  that  of  God's  covenanting  with 
them,  and  taking  them  witiiin  the  relations  of  His  covenant. 
Among  His  people  as  a  whole,  children  were  included  hy 
name ;  and  thus  the  conditional  privileges  of  the  covenant 
were  thrown  around  the  entire  nation.  "  Ye  stand  this  day, 
all  of  you,  before  the  Lord  your  God,''^ "  all  the  men  of  Israel, 
your  little  ones,  your  wives,"  &c.,  "  that  thou  shouldst  en- 
ter into  covenant  with  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  into  His  oath, 
"which  the  Lord  thy  God  maketh  with  thee  this  day." — Deut., 
xxix.,  10-12.  It  was  a  covenant,  then,  even  an  oath,  which 
God  made  with  them  and  their  "  little  ones.^'  He  asked 
them  not  whether  they  could  comprehend,  or  would  fulfill 
it ;  but  He  took  them  into  it ;  He  7nade  with  them  His  covenant 
and  His  oath ;  He  sovereignly,  yet  graciously,  bound  himself 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  231 

to  them,  and  them  to  Him,  on  assigned  conditions ;  and  the 
benefits  of  the  act  followed  or  failed  according  as  those 
conditions  were,  or  were  not,  fulfilled. 

These  conditions,  under  the  old  dispensation,  were  includ- 
ed in  this  expression :  "  Thou  shall  return  unto  the  Lord 
thy  God,  and  shalt  ohey  His  voice,  thou  and  thy  children, 
with  all  thine  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul." — Deut.,  xxx.,  2. 
They  were  conditions  which  necessarily  involved yaii/i  and 
repentance  ;  since  without  these  it  had  been  ipipossible  to 
return  to  God,  and  to  obey  His  voice  with  all  the  heart  and 
soul. 

Again,  the  blessings  which,  on  these  conditions,  God 
promised  to  them,  were  partly  temporal  and  partly  spirit- 
ual. "  Then,'^  that  is,  on  the  prescribed  conditions,  "  the 
Lord  thy  God  will  bring  thee  into  the  land  which  thy  fathers 
possessed,  and  thou  shalt  possess  it ;  and  He  will  multiply 
thee  above  thy  fathers."  Thus  far  the  temporal.  "  And 
the  Lord  thy  God  will  circumcise  thy  heart,  and  the  heart 
of  thy  seed,  to  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thine  heart 
and  with  all  thy  soul,  that  thou  mayest  live." — Deut.,  xxx., 
3-6.  And  thus  far  the  spiritual.  On  the  conditions  pre- 
scribed, He  pledged  himself  with  an  oath  to  give  them  rich 
temporal  favors,  but  far  richer  spiritual  blessings,  even  the 
true  circumcision  of  the  heart,  with  the  love  of  God,  and 
life  forevermore.  And  these  He  pledged  not  only  to  them, 
but  also  to  their  "  seed"  or  posterity  after  them ;  of  course, 
on  their  becoming  capable  of  loving  Him,  as  well  as  of  being 
placed  under  His  covenant.  On  condition  of  obedience  to 
His  voice.  He  promised  to  work  in  them  love  for  himself ; 
and  on  condition  of  a  return  to  Him,  He  promised  to  give 
them  life  with  himself. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  here,  that  even  the  temjmral  fa- 
vors which  God  promised  on  these  conditions  seem  design- 
ed to  lead  the  thoughts  into  the  spiritual,  which  were  to 
follow.     Why  did  He  promise  to  bring  them,  not  into  some 


232  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

heathen  land  of  which  they  had  never  heard,  and  which, 
therefore,  they  had  never  lost,  but  "  into  the  land  which  their 
fathers  had  once  possessed  ?"  Why  but  to  intimate  that  the 
spiritual  blessings,  love  for  God  and  life  with  God,  were 
man's  primitive  state,  lost  by  the  fall,  and  to  be  restored  hy 
grace?  And  why  did  He  promise,  in  that  land  of  their 
forefathers,  to  "  multiply  them  ahove  their  fathers  V  Why, 
but  to  intimate  that  heaven,  once  regained  with  love  for 
God  and  life  with  God,  should  constitute  an  eternal  portion, 
never  more  to  be  forfeited,  and  infinitely  richer  than  even 
that  primitive  perfection  and  bliss  on  earth,  from  which  the 
great  forefather  fell  1 

And  again :  of  the  covenant,  which  thus  conditionally 
promised  these  blessings,  both  temporal  and  spiritual,  the 
rite  of  circumcision  was  the  ancient  seal.  Hence  St.  Paul 
says  of  "  Abraham,  the  father  of  the  faithful,"  "  He  received 
the  sign  of  circumcision,  a  seal  of  the  righteousness  of  the 
faith,  which  he  had,  yet  being  uncircumcised." — Rom.,  iv., 
11.  Mark  the  order  here  indicated.  It  is  not  said  that 
Abraham's /ai7/i  was  prior  to  God's  covenant  with  him ;  but 
prior  to  his  receiving  the  seal  of  the  covenant,  "  the  seal  of 
the  righteousness  of  faith  ;"  the  seal  of  his  justification  with 
God.  And  this  is  the  order  as  fixed  by  the  transactions 
themselves.  1.  God  made  a  covenant  with  Abraham,  even 
before  the  latter  had  expressed  any  faith  in  the  former. — 
Gen.,  xii.,  1-3.  2.  Abraham  oleyed  God  by  "departing" 
from  Haran,  "  as  the  Lord  had  spoken  unto  him ;"  thus  for 
the  first  time  expressing  his  faith  in  God. — Gen.,  xii.,  4. 
3.  Twenty-four  years  after,  God  confirmed  his  covenant 
unto  Abraham  and  his  seed,  and  annexed  to  it  the  seal  of 
circumcision,  as  "  a  token  of  the  covenant  betwixt  them." 
Then  it  was,  and  not  till  then,  that  Abraham  and  his  fami- 
ly received  the  seal  of  that  covenant  under  which,  for  four- 
and-twenty  years,  he  had  been  living. — Gen.,  x\'\\.,  passim  ; 
particularly  1,  7,  11,23,24. 


THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM.  233 

From  this  brief  sketch  of  the  covenant  under  the  old 
dispensation,  I  come  now  to  its  correspondences  under  the 
new. 

Under  the  Gospel,  then,  the  covenant  itself  remains  un- 
changed. This  is  proved  by  what  the  apostle  writes,  Gal., 
iii.,  17:  "  This  I  say,  the  covenant,  that  was  confirmed  be 
fore  of  God  in  Christ,  the  law,  which  was  four  hundred  and 
thirty  years  after,  can  not  disannul,  that  it  should  make  the 
promise  of  none  effect."  Why  was  this  covenant  said  to 
have  been  confirmed  in  Christ  so  long  before  Christ  came 
in  the  flesh  1  Why,  but  to  intimate  that  God's  covenant  of 
grace  is  one ;  and  that  it  really  had  Christ  for  its  surety  he- 
fore  as  well  as  after  "  the  fullness  of  time,"  the  period  of  His 
advent  ? 

Unchanged  remain  the  conditions  also  of  the  covenant. 
True,  they  are  now  more  distinctly  expressed,  as  "  repent- 
ance toward  God  and  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 
— Acts,  XX.,  21.  But  they  are  not  different  conditions. 
What  is  expressed  now  was  iinplied  then,  in  returning  to 
God  and  obeying  His  voice  ;  returning  to  Him  in  repentance, 
and  in  faith  obeying  His  voice  ;  as  a  God  who  even  then 
held  intercourse  with  them  through  a  surety,  whose  name, 
however  faintly  traced,  has  now  but  more  clearly  shone  out, 
"the  Sun  of  Righteousness,"  "the  Lamb  of  God,"  "the 
Christ"  with  all  anointings  ! 

Unchanged,  moreover,  are  the  blessings  which,  on  these 
conditions,  the  covenant  promises.  It  is  true  that  less  is 
now  said  of  the  temporal,  and  more  of  the  spiritual.  The 
Gospel  talks  out,  and  at  large,  of  the  forgiveness  of  sin  ;  of 
justification  by  faith ;  of  peace  with  God ;  of  the  grace  of 
the  Spirit ;  of  the  love  of  Christ  which  passeth  knowledge  ; 
of  the  richness  of  the  glory  of  His  inheritance  in  the  saints  ; 
and  of  eternal  life,  as  a  kingdom,  and  a  crown,  and  an  in- 
heritance, which  shall  never  fade  away.  Still,  amid  all 
this  profuse  display  of  the  Divine  treasures  revealed  and  in 
U2 


234  THE    NATURE    OP    BAPTISM. 

Store  for  us,  the  Gospel  does  not  utterly  forget  to  say,  that 
the  "  godliness"  which  is  required  of  us,  "  hath  promise  of 
the  life  that  7iow  is,"  as  well  as  "  of  that  which  is  to  come." 
—1  Tim.,  iv.,  8. 

Once  more,  the  seal  of  the  covenant  remains  unchanged  ; 
so  far,  at  least,  as  its  significancy  and  effect  are  concerned. 
lis  form  is  indeed  new  ;  the  bloody  rite  of  circumcision  be- 
ing exchanged  for  the  ?/nbloody  washing  of  baptism*  Stilly 
it  signifies  the  same  thing  now  as  of  old  ;  the  circumcision 
of  the  heart,  the  renewing  of  the  mind ;  and  it  binds  to  the 
same  thing :  fidelity  to  God,  lifelong  constancy  in  his  ser- 
vice. This  change  in  the  mere  form  of  the  seal  is  indi- 
cated with  sufficient  clearness  in  the  passage  already  ex- 
amined from  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians  (ii.,  11,  12). 
For,  although  the  phrases  there,  "  circumcised  with  the 
circumcision  made  without  hands,"  and  "  the  circumcision 
of  Christ,"  or  which  Christ  requires,  doubtless  refer  to  the 
inward  work  of  the  Spirit,  yet  the  figurative  expression 
which  immediately  follows,  "  buried  with  him  in  baptism," 
shows  at  least  this ;  that  the  spiritual  circumcision  now  has 
its  symbol  in  the  baptismal  water,  instead  of  the  baptismal 
blood ;  and,  therefore,  that  as  the  literal  circumcision  was 
the  seal  of  the  covenant  under  the  old  dispensation,  so  now, 
with  a  change  oiform,  the  literal  baptism  is  the  seal  of  the 
same  covenant  under  the  new ;  so  that,  in  truth,  baptism 
may  now  be  called  "  the  circumcision  of  Christ,"  or  the 
Christian  circumcision. 

Finally,  then,  to  complete  the  chain  of  correspondences, 
the  subjects  of  the  covenant  remain  unchanged :  they  are 
still  the  people  of  God,  and  their  little  ones.  As  a  nation, 
indeed,  the  Jews  have  been  cut  of!"  from  the  root  of  "  the 
good  olive  tree,"  and  the  Gentiles  "grafted  in."  But  then, 
as  individuals,  even  the  Jews  have  not  been  cast  ofl^,  that 
they  should  necessarily  perish.  The  only  change,  in  this 
respect,  which  has  been  made,  is  rather  an  enlargement  of 


THE   NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  23i5 

the  field  around  which  the  inclosure  of  the  covenant  is 
thrown.  Christ  did  not  cut  ofi"  the  Jew  from  the  hope  of 
final  salvation  ;  but  only  from  exclusive  possession  and  en- 
joyment of  the  means  of  that  salvation.  When  His  cross 
came  down,  it  fell  on  the  old  wall  of  separation  between 
Jew  and  Gentile,  and  made  a  great  breach ;  through  which 
the  Church,  and  covenant,  and  promises,  and  offers  of  God 
and  His  Gospel,  passed  out  from  their  former  narrow  con- 
finement, and  went  forth  with  stately  goings  to  compass 
the  whole  earth  for  Christ  as  His  well-purchased  inherit- 
ance. I  repeat,  then,  even  the  subjects  of  the  covenant  re- 
main still  unchanged.  They  are  still  the  people  of  God,  and 
their  little  ones.  These  latter  are  surely  as  capable  of  being 
taken  into  covenant  with  God  now,  as  they  were  of  old. 
The  act  does  not  consist,  it  never  did  consist,  in  their  vol- 
untarily and  intelligently  making  a  covenant  with  God ;  but 
in  His  sovereignly  yet  graciously  assuming  them  within  the 
embrace  of  His  covenant,  and  pledging  to  them  all  His 
blessings,  on  the  conditions  of  that  covenant.  He  does  not 
now,  any  more  than  of  old,  ask  infants  whether  they  can 
comprehend,  or  will  comply  with.  His  act ;  but  He  merci- 
fully takes  them  within  the  sacred  inclosure,  and  there 
does  what  belongs  to  Him  toward  training  them,  with 
opening  accountability,  for  himself  and  for  heaven.  They 
are,  therefore,  still  included  within  the  covenant  of  grace. 
They  are  capable  of  being  made  subjects  of  the  promise 
that,  upon  future  repentance  and  faith,  God  will  forgive 
them  all  sin,  and  bestow  on  them  the  blessings  of  everlast- 
ing life  !  They  are  capable  of  being  placed,  in  their  earli- 
est infancy,  within  the  circle  of  His  mercies ;  that  peculiar 
circle,  where  His  mercies  live  most  vitally,  and  fill  all 
means  with  their  best  power.  Infants,  indeed,  are  not,  in 
the  New  Testament,  as  in  the  Old,  specifically  mentioned 
among  the  subjects  of  the  covenanting  rite.  Neither  are 
adults  thus  distinguished  from  infants.     And  the   silence 


236  THE  NATURE  OP  BAPTISM. 

has,  in  both  cases,  the  best  of  reasons.  The  subjects  of  the 
seal  were  well  known.  That  seal  had  always  been  applied 
to  infanls,  as  well  as  to  adults.  And  now,  the  mere  change 
in  the  form  of  the  seal,  while  the  significancy  and  effect  of  it, 
with  all  else  about  the  covenant,  remained  unchanged,  did 
not  render  it  necessary,  one  might  well  say,  did  not  render 
it  proper,  either  to  change,  or  to  specify  aiiew,  the  subjects 
to  whom  it  was  to  be  applied.  At  first,  when  the  Gospel 
began  to  be  preached,  the  seal  would  naturally  be  applied 
to  adults,  because  these  only  could  at  first  be  the  subjects 
of  Christ's  teachings.  But  afterward,  when  households 
grew  up  in  the  Christian  Church,  and  whole  households 
were  baptized  together,  then,  past  all  doubt,  the  covenant 
gathered  its  subjects  as  of  old ;  and  fixed  its  seal  on  the 
infant  seed  of  God's  people,  as  well  as  on  those  adults  who 
might  be  gathered  in  from  the  world.  Confirmatory  of  the 
truth  of  this  view,  Ecclesiastical  History  has  ever  been  one 
long-lived  commentary. 

Baptism,  then,  is  a  covenanting  and  sealing  ordinance. 
But  what  is  meant  by  this  covenanting  and  sealing  in  bap- 
tism ?  This  is  a  point  of  deep  importance,  for  here  the  ad- 
vocates of  the  theory  of  baptismal  regeneration  begin  to  de- 
velop most  distinctly  the  genius  of  their  theory.  Baptism, 
say  they,  conveys  remission  of  sin.  This  is  a  vital  error. 
The  difference  between  conveying  and  sealing  is  essential. 
For  though  this  difference  were  at  first  but  a  point,  yet  it  is 
a  point  of  divergency,  and,  therefore,  infinite  in  importance  ; 
inasmuch  as  the  two  systems  which  start  from  it,  accord- 
ing as  they  take  the  one  or  the  other  of  the  divergent  lines, 
become  at  length  separated  by  a  difference  which  is  heav- 
en-wide !  Sealing  is  a  sign  used  in  conveyancing ;  yet,  con- 
veyance  and  sealing  are  not  one  and  the  same  thing.  Convey- 
ance, in  the  present  case,  is  the  gracious  act  of  Him  who 
really  imparts,  and  actually  communicates,  Divine  blessings. 
Sealing  is  " a  token"  "  a  sign,"  " a  pledge,"  which  He 


THE  NATURE  OP  BAPTISM.  237 

vouchsafes,  and  by  which  He  certifies  us  of  His  truth,  and 
fidelity  to  His  promises,  and  to  the  conditions  on  which  those 
promises  rest.  The  blessings  are  not  conveyed  ly  the  seal. 
They  were  not  under  the  old  dispensation.  They  are  not 
under  the  new.  They  never  are  conveyed  till  the  condi- 
tions on  which  they  are  promised  are  met.  They  are  sig- 
nified ;  they  are  sealed ;  they  are  pledged ;  and  of  their 
certainty,  so  far  as  God  is  concerned,  we  are  assured,  and 
thus  encouraged  and  invited  to  diligence  and  fidelity,  on  our 
part,  in  meeting  the  conditions  on  which  they  are  signified, 
sealed,  and  pledged.  In  accordance  with  this,  our  Cate- 
chism, in  defining  a  sacrament,  says,  it  "  is  an  outward  and 
visible  sign  of  an  inward  and  spiritual  grace  ;"  and  that,  as 
before  explained,  it  is  not  only  "  a  means,"  one  of  a  grand 
system  of  means,  "  whereby  we  receive  the  same,"  but  also 
"a  pledge  to  assure  us  thereof."  But,  then,  to  say  that  the 
blessings  of  the  covenant  are  conveyed  by  the  seal  of  the 
covenant,  is  to  begin  building,  on  a  foundation  of  error,  a 
structure  of  superstition,  a  religion  of  trembling  homage  to 
outward  signs,  which  will,  in  all  probability,  leave  the  soul 
famished  for  lack  of  the  inward  substance. 

What,  then,  it  will  be  asked,  if  the  pardon  of  sin  is  not 
conveyed  by  baptism,  are  we  to  understand  by  these  texts  ? 
"  Repent  and  be  baptized  every  one  of  you,  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ,  for  the  remission  of  sins.'''' — Acts,  ii.,  38. 
"  Arise  and  be  baptized  ;  and  wash  away  thy  sins,  calling  on 
the  name  of  the  Lord." — Acts,  xxii.,  16.  Or,  what  is 
meant  by  the  Article  in  the  Nicene  Creed,  as  grounded  on 
these  texts  :  "  I  acknowledge  one  baptism jTor  the  remission 
of  sins  ?"  In  reaching  the  answer  to  these  questions,  I  re- 
mark that,  in  the  former  of  the  two  texts,  Peter  does  not 
say  to  the  Jews,  "  Be  baptized  for  the  remission  of  sins ;" 
but  "  be  baptized  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  the  remis- 
sion of  sins  ;"  neither  in  the  latter  does  Ananias  say  to 
Paul,  "  Wash  away  thy  sins  by  baptism  ;"  but  "  be  baptized, 


238  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

and  wash  away  thy  sins,  calling  on  the  name  of  the  Lord ;" 
or,  rather,  "  having  previously  called  on  His  name,"  having 
called  in  faith  on  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  differ- 
ence between  the  two  forms  of  expression  is  material.  "  Re- 
mission of  sin"  is  really  the  gift  of  God  to  them  that  believe 
on  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  this,  in  all  such  passages 
as  those  just  recited,  is  always  implied  and  to  be  under- 
stood. It  is  "  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ"  that  "  cleanses," 
or  "  washes  away,"  "  all  sin."  Faith,  "  calling  o«  the  name 
of  the  Lord"  Jesus  Christ,  is  the  actual  aeqi/' '1*0  s'i  which 
the  remission  of  sin  is  conve^ed^^adiii  arplfixn,  as  we  have 
seen,  is  but  the  seal  of  the  covenant,  the  promise, 'th.  oath, 
that  the  grant  shall  be,  and  actually  is  made,  when* the  spe- 
cified condition  is  met,  and  not  before.  Peter  directed  the 
Jews  to  "  be  baptized  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  the  re- 
mission of  sins  ;"  that  is,  to  be  baptized  "  in  token,^''  or  as 
"  a  'pledge''^  from  God,  that  remission  is  granted  to  ihdii  faith 
in  Christ,  which  in  baptism  is  professed  or  promised.  And 
Paul  was  exhorted  to  "  be  baptized,  and  to  wash  away  his  sins, 
having  first  called  on  the  name  of  the  Lord  ,•"  in  other  words, 
he  was  exhorted  to  receive  the  appointed  seal  of  that  re- 
mission which  was  really  conveyed  when  he  believed  on 
the  name  of  Christ. 

In  explaining  such  texts,  we  should  never  forget  what 
baptism  implies.  It  implies  either  a  profession  by  adults, 
or  a  promise  for  infants,  of  faith  in  Christ.  This  is  the 
least  that  can  be  meant  by  baptism's  being  "m  the  name  of 
Christ,"  or  "  calling  on  the  name'''  of  Christ.  It  is  a  rite 
which  points  to  the  true  and  only  fountain  of  cleansing,  "  the 
blood  of  Jesus."  It  seals  in  our  favor  the  assurance  that, 
in  Christ,  "  we  have  redemption  through  His  blood ;  the 
forgiveness  of  sin." — Eph.,  i.,  7.  When,  therefore,  in  the 
Creed,  as  fouaded  on  such  texts,  we  "  acknowledge  one 
baptism  for  the  remission  of  sins,"  the  true  meaning  is,  not 
that  baptism  actually  conveys  that  remission,  but  that  it  seals 


THE    NATURE    OF   BAPTISM.  239= 

to  US  the  covenant,  in  which  God  engages  to  convey  it  on 
the  conditions  annexed.  The  Article  may  be  thus  express- 
ed :  "I  acknowledge  one  baptism  as  a  symbol  of  purifica- 
tion from  sin,  and  as  a  seal  of  the  promise  of  remission  on 
those  terms  of  the  Gospel,  which  are,  '  repentance  toward 
God,  and  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.' " 

This  explanation  applies  to  an  expression  in  the  Office  for 
Confirmation,  as  well  as  to  this  Article  in  the  Creed,  and  the 
texts  oii  which  it  is  founded.  In  behalf  of  the  candidates, 
we  th'^         '^  '  God,  as  "having  vouchsafed  to  regener- 

ate them  , by  \.  .-i  .f'  \}re  Holy  Ghost,"  and  as  "having 
given  f^itnto  them  forgiveness  of  all  their  sins."  This  latter 
clause,  ii,  is  true,  might  be  explained  on  another  ground, 
viz.,  that  the  candidates,  "  being  now  come  to  years  of  dis- 
cretion," and  having  been  instructed  in  all  the  "  things 
which  a  Christian  ought  to  know  and  believe  to  his  soul's 
health,"  are  to  be  regarded,  in  the  judgment  of  charity,  as 
having  realized  in  their  own  experience  what  was  "  prom- 
ised for  them  in  baptism ;"  as  actually  having  that  "  repent- 
ance toward  God,  and  that  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,"  to  which,  under  the  seal  of  baptism,  remission  was 
annexed ;  and,  therefore,  as  actually  having  now  the  remis- 
sion itself,  which  was  then  only  put  under  the  seal  of  a  prom- 
ise. And  this  explanation  imbodies  a  most  important  truth. 
Still,  the  language  in  the  confirmation  office  couples  "  the 
forgiveness  of  sin"  so  closely  with  "  regeneration  by  wa- 
ter and  the  Holy  Ghost,"  as  to  leave  a  high  probability  that 
the  Church,  in  this  one  of  her  offices,  regards  the  regenera- 
tion and  the  forgiveness  as  going  together.  Taking  the  pas- 
sage on  this  ground,  then,  it  is  only  necessary  to  remark 
that,  if  I  have  shown  from  the  Bible  that  the  regeneration 
is  symbolical,  and  not  actual,  I  have,  at  the  same  time,  and 
by  the  same  reasons,  shown  that  the  remission,  as  connect- 
ed with  the  regeneration,  is  conditional,  and  not  conveyed.  I 
am  willing  that  this  explanation  of  the  term  remission,  aa. 


240  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

connected  with  baptism,  should  stand  or  fall  with  the  argu- 
ment on  that  of  regeneration,  as  expressive  of  the  nature  of 
baptism. 

The  view  which  has  now  been  taken  of  baptism  as  a  cov- 
enanting and  sealing  ordinance,  can  not  be  too  well  consid- 
ered, nor  too  well  understood.  For,  according  as  we  view 
baptism  either  in  the  one  light  or  in  the  other,  either  as  act- 
ually conveying,  or  only  as  sealing  the  conditional  ■promise 
to  convey  the  pardon  of  sin  ;  either  we  verge  upon  that  sys- 
tem of  theology  which  makes  men  virtually  worship  the  sac- 
raments, while  yet  they  live  at  ease  in  what  are  termed 
"  venial  sins,"  because  they  are  taught  that  they  can,  at  any 
time,  obtain  a  valid  pardon  through  its  priestly  dispenser ; 
or  we  adopt  that  "  radically  and  essentially  different"  sys- 
tem of  doctrine  which,  while  it  makes  us  reverence  the  or- 
dinances of  God  because  they  are  his  ordinances,  and  be- 
cause they  are  full  of  unspeakably  precious  meaning  and 
value,  still  works  in  us  an  utter  loathing  of  all  sin,  because 
it  is  offensive  to  God,  and  grievous  io  that  blessed  Savior, 
through  whose  bloody  stripes  we  profess  to  be  healed,  and 
by  faith  in  whom  we  have  received  "  pardon  and  peace." 

All  the  views  of  baptism  thus  far  given,  as  a  badge  of  our 
Christian  profession,  as  a  symbol  of  regeneration,  as  an  ini- 
tiatory ordinance,  and  as  a  covenaiiting  and  sealing  act,  are 
expressly  and  fully  sustained  by  our  Article  on  this  subject. 
Read  it  attentively  : 

"  Baptism  is  not  only  a  sign  of  profession,  or  a  77iark  of 
difference  whereby  christian  men  are  discerned  from  oth- 
ers that  be  not  christened,  but  it  is  also  a  sign  oj" regenera- 
tion, or  new  birth,  whereby,  as  by  an  instrument,  they  that 
receive  baptism  rightly  are  grafted  into  the  Church ;  the 
promises  of  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  and  of  our  adoption  to  be 
the  sons  of  God  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  are  visibly  signed  and 
sealed  ;  faith  is  confirmed,  and  grace  increased,  by  virtue  of 
prayer  to  God.     The  baptism  of  young  children  is  in  any 


THE    NATURE    OF   BAPTISM,  241 

wise  to  be  retained  in  the  Church,  as  most  agreeable  to  the 
kistitution  of  Christ."* 

The  body  of  this  Article  is  spoken  of  adult  baptism,  though 
much  of  its  language  will  apply  to  that  of  infants  also.  It 
goes  the  full  length  of  all  the  views  which  I  have  advoca- 
ted. Especially  does  it  make  baptism,  on  the  great  point 
which  has  detained  us  so  long,  not  a  conveyance  of  forgive- 
ness, but  a  sign  and  seal  of  the  promise  of  forgiveness. 
And  when  it  says,  "  Faith  is  confirmed  and  grace  increased 
by  virtue  oi prayer  to  God,"  it  sweeps  away  at  a  stroke  the 
whole  fabric  of  the  "  opus  operatum"  which  has  been  so  in- 
geniously and  toilfully  built  up,  and  so  industriously  and 
superstitiously  tilled  with  the  alleged  miracle-working  pow- 
er of  the  sanctifying  water.  "  Faith"  says  the  Article,  "  is 
confirmed  ;"  of  course,  in  those  who  already  have  a  faith 
which  may  be  confirmed  :  "  and  grace  increased  ;"  that  is, 
in  those  who  already  have  grace  which  can  be  increased : 
but,  then,  even  this  confirmation  and  increase  of  previously 
generated  graces  is  not  produced  by  any  marvel  connected 
with  the  symbolizing  waters,  but  simply  "  by  virtue  of  pray- 
er to  God .'"  How  evidently  was  this  Article  framed  as  a 
flat  contradiction  of  that  theory  of  baptismal  regeneration  to 
which  I  have  so  often  adverted ! 

5.  But  there  is  one  view  of  baptism  which  is  not  given 
in  this  Article,  but  which  is  yet  of  some  importance.  I  will 
therefore  add  a  brief  sketch  of  it  to  what  has  already  been 
said.  I  observe,  then,  that,  as  an  institution  of  Christ,  bap- 
tism imbodies  the  evidence  of  a  moral  monument  to  the  iden- 
tity of  the  Church,  and  to  the  truth  of  the  Christian  revela- 
tion, through  all  ages;  evidence  that  could  not  have  been 
counterfeited,  and  that  can  not  be  set  aside. 

The  principle  here  involved  is  indicated  in  what  St.  Paul 
says  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  a  similar  moral  monument ; 
"  As  often  as  ye  do  eat  this  bread,  and  drink  this  cup,  ye 
*  Art.  xxvii. 

X 


!l48  THE   NATURE   OF   BAPTISM, 

do  shorv  the  Lord's  death  till  He  come." — 1  Cot.,  xi.,  2&, 
A  similar  assertion  may  be  made  of  baptism  :  "  As  often  as 
ye  do  baptize  in  the  name  of  Christ,  ye  do  show  the  Lord's 
resurrection  till  He  came." 

Here,  then,  is  a  grand  moral  raonament,  testifying  to  a 
fundamental  fact  in  Christianity^  and  to  all  the  glorious 
truths  which  that  fact  carries  with  it.  This  monument! 
must  have  been  set  up  in  the  very  age  when  that  fact  trans- 
pired, and  those  truths  were  revealed ;  set  up  for  the  al- 
leged purpose,  too,  of  their  commemoration :  for  it  could 
not  have  been  subsequently  and  fraudulently  erected  and 
established  under  this  character  in  the  reverent  memory 
and  universal  observance  of  the  Church,  any  more  than  we 
could  now,  in  the  year  1844,  without  contradiction  and  de- 
tection, begin  to  consecrate  in  a  nation's  devout  memory 
and  universal  observance,  the  falsely-alleged  fact,  that  the 
22d  of  February,  173^2,  was  the  birth-day  of  a  man  who 
formerly  rescued  these  United  States  from  the  bondage  of 
slavery  to  the  lordly  Turk.  Baptism,  therefore,  is  such  a 
monument  as  I  have  described.  It  does  imbody  an  evi- 
dence to  the  identity  of  the  Church,  and  to  the  truth  of  the 
Christian  revelation,  which  could  not  have  been  counter- 
feited, and  which  can  not  be  set  aside.  More  unchangea- 
bly enduring  than  the  Pyramids  on  the  plains  of  Egypt, 
this  monument,  like  the  solemn  sister  at  its  side,  stands  to 
testify  to  all  the  generations  which  have  succeeded,  or 
which  are  to  succeed,  of  the  age  in  which  it  was  set  up,  of 
the  great  Master  by  whose  order  it  was  reared,  and  of  the 
eternal  truths  to  which  it  has  been  dedicated,  and  with 
which  it  has  been  inscribed  ! 

This  view  of  the  two  grand  monuments  of  Christianity  is 
most  fully  and  ably  given  in  that  master-piece  of  brief  but 
resistless  moral  demonstration,  "  Leslie's  Short  Method 
with  the  Deist,"  with  a  reference  to  which,  I  close  this  part 


THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM.  243 

of  the  views  which  have  been  given  of  the  nature  of  bap- 
tism. 

I  have  shown  that  this  ordinance  of  Christ  is  a  badge  of 
Christian  profession  ;  a  symbol  of  regeneration  ;  a  rite  o{  ini- 
tiation ;  a  covenanting  and  sealing  act ;  and  an  evidence  to 
the  identity  of  the  Church  and  the  truths  of  Christianity,  un- 
counterfeit  and  indestructible,  from  generation  to  generation. 
And  in  doing  this,  I  have  shown  that  the  ordinance,  thus 
viewed,  is  at  least  all  that  our  Church  makes  it  in  her  chief 
standard  of  doctrine  ;  and  that,  therefore,  the  Church  being 
our  guide,  we  may  reject  that  theory  of  baptismal  regener- 
ation which  has  all  along  been  in  view,  without  leaving  this 
prime  Christian  ordinance  stripped  of  its  solemnity  and  im- 
portance— a  mere  soulless,  lifeless  form  of  what  Christ  in- 
tended should  be  instinct  with  mysterious  and  awful  power. 
In  fact,  the  view  which  our  Church  takes  of  baptism,  while 
it  is  simple  and  Scriptural,  is,  for  that  very  reason,  essen- 
tial to  its  true  beauty,  value,  and  efficacy.  To  burden  it 
with  the  thick  covering  which  the  theory  of  baptismal  re- 
generation throws  around  it,  however  reverend  and  awful 
the  robes  in  which  it  was  thus  designed  it  should  be  dress- 
ed, is  but  to  disfigure  Divine  beauty,  simplicity,  and  life,  with 
what,  in  fact,  robs  them  of  much,  if  not  all,  of  the  salutary 
power  which  they  were  intended  to  exert.  Disencumbered, 
and  left  as  Christ  left  it,  and  as  our  Church  finds  it  in  the 
Bible,  baptism  commends  itself  to  the  Christian's  warmest 
regards  and  most  reverential  affection,  as  every  way  wor- 
thy of  its  Divine  Institutor,  and  of  the  Divine  end  which, 
in  its  institution.  He  contemplated. 

I  must  not,  however,  entirely  close  this  examination  of 
the  all-important  subject  of  baptism  without  one  farther  ref- 
erence to  the  language  in  which  it  is  spoken  of  by  our 
Church. 

It  will,  of  course,  be  asked.  Does  not  our  Church  call 
baptism,  not  only  "  a  sign  of  regeneration,"  but  also  regen- 


244  THE  NATURE  OF  BAPTISM. 

eration  itself?  Does  she  not,  in  her  office  for  infant  bap- 
tism, thank  God  "  that  it  hath  pleased  Him  to  regenerate 
the  infant"  just  baptized  "with  His  Holy  Spirit?"  And 
does  she  not,  in  evident  allusion  to  this  baptismal  act,  de- 
clare, in  her  Office  for  Confirmation,  that  God  hath  "  vouch- 
safed to  regenerate"  the  candidates  "  by  loater  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  ?"  And  is  not  all  this  a  proof  that  she  really  holds 
the  doctrine  of  baptismal  regeneration  in  all  its  breadth  and 
length  ?  Does  it  not  show  that  she  really  ties  the  birth  of 
the  Spirit  to  the  washing  of  water? 

To  this  questioning,  then,  I  reply,  The  language  here 
used  by  our  Church,  if  taken  by  itself,  or  without  reference 
to  the  Bible,  would,  without  doubt,  be  difficult  of  reconcili- 
ation with  the  views  already  advanced.  In  truth,  whatever 
view  we  take  of  this  language,  such  a  reconciliation  is  not 
altogether  easy,  if  we  expect  thereby  to  satisfy  the  queries 
of  every  mind.  To  explain  to  the  satisfaction  of  all,  what 
others  of  more  leisure  and  ability  have  failed  so  to  explain, 
I  certainly  do  not  expect  in  the  little  which  my  remaining 
limits  will  allow  me  to  add.  And  yet,  it  may  fearlessly  be 
said,  our  Church  can  not  mean  by  this  language  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  baptism  regenerates  the  infant  in  the  sense 
of  working  in  him  that  great  moral  change  from  the  old 
death  in  sin  to  the  new  life  of  holiness,  in  which  faith  and 
repentance  are  essential  parts.  If  she  meant  this,  she 
would  stand  up  a  house  divided  against  itself,  and  sure  to 
fall.  She  can,  therefore,  mean  no  more  than  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  effects  for  the  infant  in  baptism  that  of  which  in  bap- 
tism it  is  capable.  What  this  is,  different  minds  differently 
decide,  even  while  rejecting  the  theory  of  baptismal  regen- 
eration, as  it  has  been  stated. 

Perhaps  the  best  thing  which,  in  a  few  words,  I  can  do, 
will  be  to  give  what  the  author  of  one  of  our  standard  works 
on  infant  baptism  says,  in  explaining  what  the  infant  is  ca- 
pable of  receiving  from  the  Holy  Spirit. 


THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM.  245 

"  There  are  some  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  work- 
ing actual  faith,  repentance,  &c.,  in  the  heart,  of  which  an 
infant,  indeed,  is  not  capable.  But  when  God  does  apply 
the  pardon  of  original  guilt,  does  transfer  a  person  out  of  the 
state  of  nature  into  the  state  of  grace  and  of  the  Christian 
covenant,  does  unite  him  as  a  member  into  the  mystical 
body  of  Christ,  and  accept  him  for  His  child ;  these  things 
and  these  'promises  are  spoken  of  in  Scripture  as  done,  seal- 
ed, and  applied  to  the  person  by  the  Spirit.  Now  of  these 
latter  an  infant  is  capable."* 

This  view,  understood  as  the  author  probably  intended, 
accords  well  with  that  which  I  have  already  given.  In  sub- 
stance it  amounts  to  this  :  "  That  in  infancy  we  are  capable 
of  having  the  pardon  of  original  guilt  applied,  at  least  in  this 
sense,  that  the  promise  of  its  forgiveness  through  Jesus 
Christ  is  then  sealed ;  of  being  transferred  from  that  state 
of  nature,  in  which  we  are  out  of  covenant,  to  that  state  of 
grace,  in  which  we  are  in  covenant  with  God ;  of  being 
united  to  that  mystical  body  of  Christ  which  is  His  Church ; 
and  of  being  thus,  for  our  future  discipline  and  training, 
adopted  as  children  of  God."  Of  all  this  we  doubtless  are 
capable  in  infancy ;  all  this,  too,  may  with  justice  be  said 
to  be  done  for  us  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  baptism  ;  and  in  this 
sense,  we,  who  were  baptized  in  infancy,  may  be  said  to 
have  been  regenerated  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  that  ordinance. 
Understood  in  this  sense,  there  can  be  no  objection  to  the 
term.  The  Church  has  sanctioned  its  use,  and  at  least  one 
text  in  the  Bible  justifies  us  in  considering  baptism  a  sym- 
bolical regeneration  (Tit.,  iii.,  5) ;  a  regeneration  effected 
by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  applying  to  the  infant  all  the  benefits 
of  the  covenant  of  grace  of  which,  at  that  tender  age,  he 
is  capable. 

But  whether  or  not  th^s  be,  to  all  minds,  a  perfectly  satis- 

*  "  A  Conference  between  two  Men  about  Infant  Baptism."    By  Wm. 
Wall,  author  of  "  The  History  of  Infant  Baptism." 
X2 


246  THE    NATURE    OF    BAPTISM. 

fying  explanation  of  the  language  of  our  Church,  as  it  has 
been  quoted,  in  one  thing  we  may  be  well  settled  :  the  just- 
ness and  necessity  of  that  great  law  of  interpretation,  so  vi- 
tally important  to  us  as  Protestant  Episcopalians,  which  I  find 
in  the  writings  of  the  late  venerable  Bishop  Griswold  ;  that, 
in  cases  of  apparent  conflict,  "  the  Prayer  Book  must  be  ex- 
plained into  an  agreement  with  the  Bible,  and  not  the  Bible 
into  an  agreement  with  the  Prayer  Book."  If  the  two  ap- 
pear to  differ,  much  more,  if  they  really  do  differ,  the  hu- 
man must  bow  to  the  Divine.  It  were  impious  to  force  the 
Divine  to  do  obeisance  to  the  human.  And  that  the  theory 
of  baptismal  regeneration,  as  I  have  exhibited  it  from  the 
writings  of  its  now  most  popular,  if  not  its  actually  greatest 
masters,  does,  not  only  apparently,  but  actually  and  irrecon^ 
cdahly,  differ  from  the  true  sense  of  Scripture,  is  a  position 
which  has,  I  humbly  conceive,  been  sufficiently  demon- 
strated. 

That  great  names  and  many,  in  times  long  past,  and  in 
times  now  current,  may  be  arrayed  against  the  view  which 
has  now  been  taken  of  baptism,  I  am  well  aware.  But  if  I 
have  succeeded  in  showing  that  the  Word  of  the  living  God 
and  the  general  teaching  of  our  Church  are  in  favor  of  this 
view,  then  I  may  justly  feel  well  sheltered  under  names 
more  mighty  and  more  hallowed,  if  not  more  numerous,  than 
all  that  can  be  brought  for  a  different  teaching,  whether  from 
the  dim  days  of  Mediaeval  antiquity,  or  from  these  days  of 
strange  tendency  toward  a  Mediaeval  theology. 

To  say  that  the  difference  between  the  two  views  which 
have  been  taken  of  baptism  is  important,  would  be  weak 
speech.  It  is  fundamental ;  involving  the  vital  interests  of 
the  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  auguring,  as  the  one  theory  or  the 
other  shall  prevail,  either  the  return  of  a  dun  eclipse  to  the 
Sun  of  truth  and  life  ;  or  the  shining  on  to  a  still  more  perfect 
day  of  that  glorious  light  of  the  Gospel  which  the  best  fathers 
of  the  English  and  American  Protestant  Episcopal  churches 


TH}5    JTArURB    OP    BAPTISM.  247 

Jsave  held  forth  evsr  since  the  time  of  the  blessed  Reforma- 
tion. It  is  in  the  view  taken  of  baptism  that  the  seed  was 
planted  which,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  produced  the  fruit  of 
that  giant  error,  in  later  times  named  Transubslantiation  ;  tht 
poison  of  which,  it  may  well  be  feared,  hath  mad«  her  wh^ 
tasted  it  sick  unto  death.  And  it  will  be  in  onr  views  of 
baptism,  if  we  are  indeed  destined  to  so  sad  a  retrogressioi:;^ 
that  we  shall  replant  the  same  seed  of  error,  and  reproduc^^ 
tlie  same  fruits  of  death .' 


PART  III. 

THE  NATURE  OF  THE  SACRAMENTS. 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 


PART    III. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

I  Cor.,  xi.,  23-2G ;  "  23.  For  I  have  received  of  the  Lord  that  which  also  I 
delivered  unto  you,  That  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  same  night  in  which  he  was 
betrayed,  took  bread :  24.  And  when  he  had  given  thanks,  he  brake  it,  and 
said,  '  Take,  eat :  this  is  my  body,  which  is  broken  for  you :  this  do  in  re- 
membrance of  me.'  25.  After  the  same  manner  also  he  took  the  cup,  when 
he  had  supped,  saying,  '  This  cup  is  the  new  testament  in  my  blood :  this 
do  ye,  as  oft  as  ye  drink  it,  in  remembrance  of  me.'  26.  For  as  often  as  ye 
eat  this  bread,  and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do  show  the  Lord's  death  till  he 
come." 

From  our  deliberate  and  prolonged  survey  of  the  most 
ancient  of  what  I  have  termed  the  two  great  Christ- 
ian monuments,  those  significant  memorials  of  himself 
which  Christ  hath  builded  within  the  ample  inclosure  of 
His  Church,  I  come  now  to  a  view  of  its  younger  but 
more  solemn  sister,  rearing  itself  evermore  from  amid 
the  sad  shades  of  Gethsemane  and  of  Calvary,  and  yet 
gathering  most  o(  its  sublime  impressiveness  from  the 
light  which  breaks  around  its  summit,  the  light  of  eter- 
nal life.  While  baptism  is  built  on  the  broad /ac^  of  our 
own  "  death  in  trespasses  and  sins,"  and  on  the  coex- 
tensively  broad  truth^  that  we  need  a  quickening  and  a 
rising  to  the  new  life  of  holiness  ;  and  while,  from  such 
a  base,  it  towers  upward  till  lost  in  the  glories  of  our 
bodily  resurrection  from  the  dead  as  first-fruits  of  the 
great  Forerunner's  victory  over  the  grave  ;  the  Lord's 
Supper  is  built  on  the  mighty /ac^  of  the  death  of  Christ 
as  a  sacrifice  for  sin,  and  on  the  equally  mighty  truth,, 
that  in  Him  alone  "  we  have  redemption  through  His 


252  THE    NATURE    OF    THE    LORd's    SUPPER. 

;  blood,  the  forgiveness  of  sin  j"  and  rising  from  such  a 
base,  it  points  away  till  its  pinnacle  is  lost  in  the  pro- 
found upward  depths  of  that  light  which  it  pierceth  be- 
fore the  throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb,  the  light  of  the 
soul's  blessed  life  forevermore. 

Viewed  thus  as  to  their  significancy,  these  moral  mon- 
uments of  Christianity  are  vital  things.  He  to  whom 
they  point,  and  whom  they  commemorate,  still  liveth  in 
them  by  the  facts  which  they  symbolize,  and  by  the 
truths  which  they  imbody.  Beautiful  things  are  they  in 
their  significancy,  but  blessed  things  in  their  vitality. 
Enough  to  justify  this,  I  think,  we  have  already  seen  in 
the  view  which  has  been  taken  of  baptism.  Enough  to 
justify  it,  I  think,  we  shall  see  in  the  view  which  is  now 
to  be  taken  of  the  LorcTs  Supper.  Whatever  I  may  be 
obliged  to  strip  from  this  sacred  ordinance,  I  trust  God 
will  keep  me  from  that  rudeness  of  hand  which  would 
either  touch  its  essential  life  or  disfigure  its  originally 
Divine  beauty. 

In  what  I  have  already  said  on  the  relation  which  the 
ordinance  of  preaching,  and  the  sacraments  in  general, 
bear  to  the  renewing  and  sanctifying  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  even  in  what  I  have  so  largely  added  on  the 
subject  of  baptism,  so  much  has  necessarily  been  spoken 
of  the  Lord's  Supper  itself,  the  principles  which,  like  a 
foundation,  underlay  the  whole  structure  of  sacramenta- 
ry  theology,  have  been  so  fully  canvassed,  and  so  much 
light  is  consequently  thrown  forward  upon  the  subject 
of  my  present  inquiry,  that  it  will  not  be  necessary  to 
enter,  at  so  great  length  as  would  otherwise  have  been 
required,  upon  the  question  touching  the  nature  of  this 
sacrament.  In  what  I  have  to  say  I  shall  first  exhibit 
what  I  consider  the  great  seminal  error,  as  it  manifests 
itself  in  that  view  of  the  Lord's  Supper  which  is  now 
gaining  currency  among   us ;   second,  examine  those 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORD  S  SUPPER.      253 

passages  of  Scripture  on  which  this  view  is  rested ; 
third,  place  this  view  in  the  light  of  reason  and  of  expe- 
rience ;  and,  fourth,  educe  from  the  Bible,  and  from  the 
language  of  our  Church,  the  true  idea  of  the  nature  of 
this  great  Christian  ordinance. 

I.  First,  then,  in  order  to  exhibit  the  great  seminal 
error  to  which  I  refer,  I  quote  the  following  language 
from  works  now  become  but  too  well  known. 

It  is  said  that  there  is  "  a  real  presence  of  Christ's 
body  and  blood  in  the  sacrament  ;"*  that  "  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ  are  sacramentally  united  to  the 
bread  and  wine,  so  that  Christ  is  truly  given  to  the 
faithful  ;"  "  His  flesh  together  with  the  bread,  and  His 
blood  together  with  the  wine  :"t  that  the  "Aan&"  of 
the  officiating  minister  '■'■convey  the  sacrifice,"  "our 
Savior''s  sacrifice,"  that  on  which  the  Lord's  Supper  is 
a  "  holy  feast ;":{:  that  "  every  faithful  communicant  may 
be  as  certainly  assured  that  he  receives  the  Lord's  body 
as  if  he  knew  that  the  bread  is  substantially  turned  into 
it;"§  that  "the  nature  of  this  mystery  is  such,  that 
when  we  receive  the  bread  and  wine,  we  also,  together 
with  them,  receive  at  the  same  time  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ,  which,  in  the  celebration  of  the  holy  Eucharist, 
are  as  truly  given  as  they  are  represented  y"||  in  short, 
"  that  there  is  a  true,  real,  spiritual  presence  of  Christ 
at  the  Holy  Supper  ;  more  real  than  if  we  could,  with 
Thomas,  feel  Him  with  our  hands  or  thrust  our  hands 
into  His  side  ;"  and  that  though  "  this  is  bestowed  upon 
faith  and  received  bij  faith,"  yet  faith  does  but  "  open 
our  eyes  to  see  what  is  really  there,"  and  "that  it  is 
there  independently  of  our  faith."ir     The  presence  is  in- 

*  Tracts  for  the  Times,  N.  Y.,  vol.  i.,  p.  192. 
t  Ibid.,  vol.  i..  p.  199.  t  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,  p.  23. 

^  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,  p.  205.  II  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,  p.  214 

^  Pusey's  Letter  to  the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  N.  Y.  ed.,  p.  86. 

Y2 


254      THE  NATURE  OP  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

deed  spiritual,  not  visible  ;  and  our  eating  is  spiritual^ 
not  carnal :  still,  that  presence  is  not  the  mere  omnipres- 
ence of  infinite  Spirit,  realized  by  faith,  but  the  real 
presence  of  Christ's  very  body  and  blood,  '■''independent  of 
faith ;"  and  our  eating  is  not  mere  faith  in  the  sacrifice 
of  Christ,  as  offered  on  the  cross,  and  as  represented  in 
the  Eucharist,  but  a  real  reception  of  the  true  body  and 
blood  of  Christ,  as  united  with  the  bread  and  wine,  and 
as  actually  conveyed  by  the  hands  of  the  officiator. 

To  leave  no  doubt  that  the  doctrine  which  I  am  en- 
gaged in  exhibiting  is  all  that  has  now  been  stated,  I 
add  a  few  quotations  from  one  of  the  latest  works  on 
the  subject. 

In  that  work  it  is  laid  down,  "  that  the  Eternal  Word 
so  took  our  flesh  into  Himself  as  to  impart  to  it  His 
own  inherent  life  ;  so,  then,  we  partaking  of  it"  (the  flesh 
which  Christ  assumed),  "  that  life  is  transmitted  on  to 
us  also,  and  not  to  our  souls  only,  but  to  our  bodies  also, 
since  we  become  flesh  of  his  flesh  and  bone  of  his  bone, 
and  He,  who  is  wholly  life,  is  imparted  to  us  wholly.''''* 
Again:  "For  now,  according  both  to  the  declaration  of 
our  Lord  and  our  faith,  it  is  truly  flesh  and  truly  blood. 
And  these,  received  into  us,  cause  that  we  are  in  Christ 
and  Christ  in  us."f  To  the  same  effect,  "Having  re- 
ceived into  ourselves,  bodily  and  spiritually.  Him  who 
is  by  nature  and  truly  the  Son,"  "we,  becoming  par- 
takers of  the  nature  which  is  above  all,  are  glorified. "J 
Again,  speaking  of  the  effect  of  the  sacrament  on  "  the 
sinner,^''  as  the  author  had  been  speaking  of  its  effect  on 
the  saint,  he  says,  "  To  him  its  special  joy  is,  that  it  is 
his  Redeemer's  very  broken  body  ;  it  is  His  blood  which 
was  shed  for  the  remission  of  his  sins.  In  the  words  of 
the  ancient  Church,  he  '  drinks  his  ransom  ;'  he  eateth 

*  Pusey's  Sermon  on  the  Eucharist,  N.  Y.,  1843,  p.  7. 
t  Idem,  p.  8.  t  Idem,  p.  9. 


THE  NATURE    OF  THE    LORd's   SUPPER.  255 

that,  *  the  very  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord,  the  only  sacri-  V^ 
jice  for  sin  ;'  God  '  poureth  out'  for  him  yet  '  the  most 
precious  blood  of  His  only  Begotten  ;'  they  '  are  fed 
from  the  cross  of  the  Lord,  because  they  eat  His  body 
and  blood.'  'He,'  says  St.  Ambrose,  'is  the  bread  of 
life.  Whoso,  then,  eateth  life,  can  not  die.  How  should 
he  die  whose  food  is  life  %  How  perish,  who  hath  a  / 
living  substance  1'  "* 

To  add  more  on  this  point  is  really  unnecessary  ;  and 
yet  a  few  more  sentences  I  will  add,  as  showing  how 
this  seminal  error  is  beginning  to  grow.  The  author, 
alluding  to  that  priestly  act  of  Christ  by  which  the  nat- 
ural bread  and  wine  become  changed  into  His  body  and 
blood,  speaks  of  His  "  words  as  the  form  which  conse- 
crates the  sacramental  elements  into  His  body  and 
blood. "f  Consequently,  those  who  are  now  priests  un- 
der Christ,  when  they  repeat  that  form,  although  they  do 
not  transubstantiate  the  elements  into  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ,  yet  come  so  near  that  alleged  miracle  that 
they  consecrate  the  elements  into  that  body  and  blood. 
And  thus  it  happens,  according  to  this  doctrine,  "that 
His  flesh  and  blood  in  the  sacrament  shall  give  life,  not 
only  because  they  are  the  flesh  and  blood  of  the  Incar- 
nate Word,  who  is  life,  but  also  because  they  are  the 
very  flesh  and  blood  which  were  given  and  shed  for  the 
life  of  the  world. "J  Yea ;  "  For  that,  so  are  we  members 
of  Him,  not  by  love  only,  but  in  very  deed ;  mingled 
with  that  flesh,  mingled  with  Him,  that  we  might  become 
in  a  manner  one  substance  with  Him,  the  one  body  and 
one  flesh  of  Christ ;  and  He,  the  Eternal  Son  and  God 
the  Word  in  us,  commingled  and  co-united  with  us,  with 
our  bodies  as  with  our  souls,  preserving  both  for  incor- 
ruption  ;"  "  descending  to  our  nature,  subject  to  cor- 

*  Pusey's  Sermon  on  the  Eucharist,  N.  Y.,  1843,  p.  9. 
t  Idem,  p.  10.  t  Idem,  p.  10. 


256      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORDS  SUPPER. 

«  ruption  and  to  change,  and  raising  it  to  Its  own  excels 
lences,  and,  by  commingling  it  vnth  Itself,  all  but  remov- 
ing it  from  the  conditions  of  created  nature."* 

Now  all  this  is  certainly  plain  language,  though  it  as- 
serts a  doctrine  which  is  not  plain.  So  far  as  such  a 
subject  can  be  stripped  of  ambiguity  in  expressionj  it 
is  so  here.  However  incomprehensible  the  thing  in- 
tended, the  thing  itself  is  not  left  for  doubtful  conject- 
ure. The  real  presence  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ 
in  the  elements,  as  distinguished  from  what  would  be 
understood  by  the  presence  of  Christ  at  the  sacrament,  is 
unequivocally  affirmed ;  even  the  presence  of  that  very 
jiesh  and  blood  which  were  given  and  shed  for  the  life  of 
the  world.  The  change  of  the  natural  elements  of 
bread  and  wine  into  more  than  symbols,  into  actual  vehi- 
cles, of  that  very  flesh  and  blood,  is  distinctly  taught. 
The  conveyance  of  that  very  flesh  and  blood  by  the  hands 
of  the  officiator,  and  the  reception  of  them  by  the  com- 
municant, together  with  their  symbols,  are  expressly  as- 
serted. And  the  miraculous  result  of  the  Christian's 
being  made  literally  a  partaker  in  the  nature,  the  sub- 
stance of  Christ  incarnate,  so  that  there  is  a  mutual 
commingling  and  co-uniting  of  His  Divine  nature  with 
the  Christian  and  of  the  Christian  with  His  Divine  na- 
ture, is  undisguisedly  developed.  In  all  this  it  is  con- 
sidered as  essential  to  a  true  and  perfect  sacrament, 
that  the  very  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  which  are  the 
things  signified,  should  be  present  with  the  bread  and 
wine,  which  are  the  conveying  signs  of  that  body  and 

*  Pusey's  Sermon  on  the  Eucharist,  N.  Y.,  1843,  p.  9.  Many  of  the 
foregoing  quotations  from  Dr.  Pusey's  Sermon  are  in  fact  his  quotations 
from  the  post-Nicene  fathers,  but  he  adopts  them  as  expressive  of  his  own 
views ;  and  that,  too,  without  abating  any  thing  from  their  literal  force,  in 
consideration  of  the  fact  that,  with  those  fathers,  they  may  have  been 
sometimes  but  strong  figures,  intended,  with  however  ill  a  judgment,  to  gar- 
nish and  commend  a  true  and  salutary  meaning. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      257 

blood  ;  and  that  they  should  be  conveyed  by  the  hands 
of  the  officiator,  and  received  into  the  body  as  well  as 
soul  of  the  communicant,  at  the  same  time,  and  together 
with  those  signs.  If  the  language  which  I  have  quoted 
do  not  express  the  whole  of  the  foregoing  complex  and 
amazing  idea,  then  words  for  its  expression  can  not  be 
framed.  How  all  this  is  possible^  the  authors  quoted  do 
not  attempt  to  inquire  ;  but  leave  it  as  that  deep,  pro- 
found, and  awful  mystery  which  invests  and  is  involved 
in  this  sacrament,  and  which  gives  it  its  claim  to  our 
deep,  profound,  and  awful  reverence. 

II.  I  pass  now,  in  the  second  place,  to  an  examina- 
tion of  those  passages  of  Scripture  on  which  the  fore- 
going doctrine  of  this  sacrament  is  rested.  In  doing 
so,  I  approach  a  topic  which  demands  our  most  serious 
attention.  The  seed  of  the  great  error  which  is  here 
so  largely  developed  is,  as  we  have  seen,  planted  in  the 
false  view  taken  of  baptism.  But  it  has  already  grown 
so  much,  and  gained  such  vigor,  as  to  call  for  solemn 
heedgiving  "  to  the  law  and  to  the  testimony."  We 
must  know,  as  we  value  our  soul's  eternal  weal,  wheth- 
er, in  very  deed,  the  Word  of  God  actually  teaches  the 
doctrine  which  we  thus  see  and  hear  inculcated. 

1.  I  go  at  once  to  the  key-text  from  which  this  doc- 
trine is  drawn.  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  Except 
ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  drink  his  blood, 
ye  have  no  life  in  you.  Whoso  eateth  my  flesh  and 
drinketh  my  blood  hath  eternal  life  j  and  I  will  raise 
him  up  at  the  last  day.  For  my  flesh  is  meat  indeed, 
and  my  blood  is  drink  indeed.  He  that  eateth  my  flesh 
and  drinketh  my  blood,  dwelleth  in  me  and  I  in  him." — 
John,  vi.,  53-56. 

I  say  this  is  the  key-text  on  this  subject,  not  because 
it  is  that  which  should  govern  the  doctrine  of  the  Eu- 
charist, but  because  it  is  confessedly  that  which  Acw 
Y2 


258      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

given  shape  to  the  doctrine  as  just  exhibited.  The  true 
summary  of  the  nature  of  this  sacrament  is  found  in  the 
instituting  words  of  Christ,  and  these  words  are  found 
in  the  passage  which  I  have  placed  at  the  head  of  this 
discourse,  and  its  parallels  in  the  Gospels.  For  this 
reason,  and  in  obedience  to  the  canon  of  interpretation 
which  I  have  adopted,  I  shall  reserve  this  true  summa- 
ry for  examination  when  I  shall  have  collected  all  the 
light  possible  from  other  portions  of  Scripture  ;  I  might 
more  correctly  say,  when  these  other  portions  shall 
have  dissipated  by  their  own  light  all  the  darkness 
which  has  been  spread  over  them. 

I  repeat,  then,  the  key-text  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Eu- 
charist, as  I  have  exhibited  it,  is  the  passage  just  cited 
from  the  sixth  chapter  of  the  Gospel  according  to  John. 
Adopting  here  (as  in  the  case  of  John,  iii.,  5,  on  bap- 
tism) the  false  canon  of  interpretation  formerly  exposed, 
the  advocates  of  this  doctrine  every  where  assume  that 
these  words  of  Christ  were  spoken  of  the  sacrament  of 
His  Supper  ;  and  not  only  so,  but  also  spoken  literally, 
and  to  be  literally  understood.  And  then,  with  their  key 
thus  fashioned,  they  go  to  the  instituting  words  of  Christ 
themselves,  and  insist  on  it  that  they  must  be  understood 
as  teaching  the  same  doctrine. 

The  very  first  inquiry  to  be  made,  then,  is.  Were  the 
words  quoted  from  the  sixth  of  John  spoken  o(  sacrament- 
al eating  and  drinking  1  Was  Christ  there,  in  fact,  dis- 
coursing of  the  nature  of  the  Lord's  Supper'?  It  may 
seem  bold  to  ask  such  a  question,  after  its  affirmative 
has  been  so  confidently  assumed  and  reiterated,  and 
used  as  a  point  which  all  the  world  must  concede,  and 
about  which  there  could  be  no  question.  And  yet  one 
is  constrained  to  ask  the  question,  because  this  assump- 
tion is  clearly  groundless.  It  takes  for  granted  what 
can  not  be  granted — what,  I  trust,  it  will  be  shown. 


THE  NATURE  OP  THE  LORD  S  SUPPER.      259 

ought  not  to  be  granted.  We  who  live  after  the  institu- 
tion of  the  Lord's  Supper  have  no  riglit  to  assume  that 
the  words  which  have  been  quoted,  as  they  stand  by 
themselves,  however  much  they  may  sound  like  the  lan- 
guage in  which  we  have  been  accustomed  to  hear  this 
sacrament  stated,  were  actually  spoken  of  it,  and  are 
intended  to  express  its  nature  and  effect.  Every  prin- 
ciple of  sound  interpretation  obliges  us  to  go  back  to 
the  occasion  on  which  they  were  uttered,  and  to  the  chap- 
ter in  which  they  are  found ;  and  to  gather  thence  their 
true^  their  intended  im^oxX.  Back  to  that  occasion,  then, 
and  to  that  chapter,  I  go  ;  and  I  trust  it  is  with  the  spir- 
it of  teachableness  to  learn  what  the  great  Master  would 
have  all  his  disciples  know. 

The  first  thing  discovered,  on  thus  going  back,  is  the 
simple,  but  important  fact,  that  the  discourse  of  Christ 
in  John,  vi.,  was  delivered  more  than  a  year  before  the 
institution  of  His  Supper,  and  some  time  before  he  had 
even  begun  to  hint  to  his  disciples  the  great  truth,  that 
He  was  to  suffer  on  the  cross,  a  sacrifice  for  sin.  In 
His  school  they  had  not  yet  advanced  so  far  as  this  cen- 
tre-truth of  His  Gospel.  They  were  yet  wholly  igno- 
rant of  the  manner  in  which  He  was  to  effect  the  work 
of  their  redemption.  They,  therefore,  could  not  have 
understood  Him,  in  what  He  said,  to  speak  of  sacrament- 
al eating  and  drinking.  In  his  discourse,  as  we  shall  soon 
see,  He  was,  it  is  true,  teaching  them  that  fundamental 
principle  of  evangelic  truth,  the  necessity  of  faith  in 
Him  as  their  Savior ;  but  of  the  peculiar  aspect  under 
which  He  was  finally  to  present  Himself  to  their  faith 
in  the  Holy  Supper,  as  a  Savior  crucified,  he  said  nothing. 
There  was  not  in  his  words  even  a  dim  shadowing  of  that 
aspect  to  their  minds.  His  speech  was  perfectly  general, 
even  more  so  than  that  of  his  forerunner,  the  Baptist, 
when  he  pointed  out  Christ  to  the  people,  in  those  mem- 


260  THE    NATURfi    OP   THE   LORd's    SUPPER. 

orable  words,  "Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh 
away  the  sin  of  the  world!" — John,  i.,  29.  The  Lamb 
of  God,  they  might  easily  understand,  meant  a  sacrifice 
for  sin  ,  and  beholding  Him  truly  was  to  look  upon  Him 
with  the  eye  of  faith.  If,  then,  Christ's  words,  in  the 
passage  before  us,  may  be  assumed  as  spoken  of  the 
sacrament  of  the  Supper,  with  equal,  and  even  with 
greater  justice,  may  those  of  His  chosen  preparatory 
preacher  be  assumed  as  spoken  of  the  same  ordinance  ; 
for  they  both  teach  the  same  thing;  moreover,  in  the 
language  of  John  there  is  a  distinct  foreshadowing  of 
sacrifice,  while  in  that  of  Christ,  not  even  the  shadow 
of  the  cross  is  seen.  The  truth  is,  neither  was  spoken 
of  that  ordinance,  but  only  of  Him  who  came  to  be  our 
Divine  Savior,  and  of  whose  sacrifice  that  ordinance  has 
since  become  a  Divine  symbol. 

But,  in  order  to  be  fully  satisfied  that  these  words  of 
Christ  do  not  refer  to  sacramental  eating  and  drinking, 
we  must  go  more  at  large  into  the  occasion  on  which, 
and  into  the  discourse  in  which,  they  were  uttered.  In 
doing  this,  we  shall  see,  not  only  that  they  are  a  strong 
figure^  but  also  that  the  figurative  dress  in  which  Christ 
chose  to  clothe  His  thoughts  was  suggested  by  some- 
thing very  different  from  the  then  future  institution  of 
His  Supper.  Our  Savior,  we  know,  was  wont  to  seize 
on  passings  or  on  well-known  and  familiar  incidents  and 
objects,  that  by  them  He  might  the  more  impressively 
illustrate,  and  that  from  them  He  might  the  more  easily 
lead  the  thoughts  of  His  hearers  to  contemplate  and  ap- 
prehend, the  glorious  truths  which  He  taught.  Hence 
the  peculiarly  interesting  dress  in  which  so  many  of  his 
discourses  and  parables  appear.  Hence,  especially,  that 
most  striking  dress  in  which  this  discourse  in  the  sixth 
of  John  appears. 

To  give  a  few  instances  in  which  the  above  remark 


THE    NATURE    OP   THE    LORd's    SUPPER.  261 

is  illustrated.  When  Jesus  had  cursed  the  barren  fig- 
tree,  and  when  the  disciples  marA'eled  that  it  so  soon 
withered  away,  he  seized  on  their  remark,  and  on  the 
excited  attention  which  it  evinced,  to  direct  their 
thoughts  to  the  necessity  and  power  o{  faith,  and  to  the 
still  more  marvelous  things  which,  through  faith,  they 
should  be  enabled  to  accomplish. — Matt.,  xxi.,  18-22. 
So,  when  He  wished  to  correct  the  false  inference  of 
the  Jews,  that  the  greatest  sufferers  in  this  life  were  the 
greatest  sinners,  and  to  impress  on  their  minds  the  truth 
that  repentance  is  equally  necessary  for  all,  he  seized  on 
the  incident  which  they  related  to  Him,  of  Pilate's  mas- 
sacre of  some  Galileans,  while  engaged  in  their  sacri- 
fices J  and  on  the  well-known  incident  of  the  fatal  fall 
of  the  Tower  in  Siloam  on  eighteen  of  the  citizens  of 
Jerusalem,  assuring  them  that  their  reasonings  from 
such  events  were  false,  and  that,  unless  they  repented, 
they  would  even  more  seriously  perish. — Luke,  xiii., 
1-5.  In  Matthew,  xvi.,  5-12,  having  just  fed  more  than 
four  thousand  with  seven  loaves  and  a  few  fishes,  he 
improves  both  that  miracle  and  the  one  recorded  in 
John,  vi.,  for  the  purpose  of  putting  his  disciples  on 
their  guard  against  X)xe  false  leaven  of  Pharisaic  doctrine. 
In  Matthew,  xv.,  1-20,  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  come 
and  complain  of  his  disciples  for  breaking  the  traditions 
by  eating  with  unwashen  hands.  He  at  once  takes  up 
the  fact,  and  goes  on,  in  a  severe  discourse,  to  show 
them  the  difference  between  mere  outward  unclean- 
ness  and  that  inward  defilement  of  which  they  were 
themselves  the  subjects.  In  Luke,  xiv.,  1-24,  when  a 
chief  Pharisee  invited  him  to  dine,  and  "He  marked 
how  some  chose  out  the  chief  rooms,"  or  seats,  at  the 
feast,  He  seized  on  the  incident,  and  out  of  it  wove  the 
dress  of  two  parables,  full  of  important  instruction.  But 
the  instance  most  strongly  and  exactly  in  point  is  that 


262      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORD's  SUPPER. 

which  is  recorded  in  John,  iv.,  5-25,  and  which  occurred 
at  Jacobus  Well,  near  Samaria,  when  the  woman  came  out 
to  draw  water.  Here  the  starting  of  the  discourse  from 
the  incident  before  Him,  the  figurative  dress  which  His 
discourse  drew  from  that  incident,  the  ?iature  of  the  great 
truth  which  He  taught,  and  the  manner  in  which  He  led 
the  conversation  from  one  change  to  another,  till  He 
had  brought  His  hearer  to  the  full  knowledge  of  Him- 
self as  the  true  Messiah,  and  of  those  waters  of  eternal 
life  which  He  giveth,  and  of  which  he  that  drinketh  shall 
be  forever  satisfied — are  all  in  full  keeping  and  harmo- 
ny with  the  origin,  progress,  and  character  of  the  dis- 
course in  the  sixth  of  John,  which  I  am  now  to  ex- 
amine. 

This  chapter  opens  with  an  account  of  His  miracu 
lous  feeding  of  the  five  thousand  with  five  barley  loaves 
and  two  small  fishes.  The  sight  of  this  miracle  prompt- 
ed the  multitude,  who  were  its  witnesses,  to  a  forcible 
attempt  "  to  make  him  a  king."  But  he  withdrew  from 
the  attempt,  first,  "  into  a  mountain  himself  alone,"  and, 
afterward  (when  his  disciples  had  launched  upon  "  the 
sea  toward  Capernaum"),  into  that  sublime  triumph 
over  the  elements,  in  which,  as  it  were,  he  trode  the 
roaring  waves  into  that  lowly  acknowledgment  of  His 
Godhead,  their  unopposing  silence!  The  next  day, 
however,  the  eluded  multitude  followed,  "  seeking  for 
Jesus."  "  And  when  they  had  found  him,"  and  had  ques 
tioned  him  as  to  the  manner  of  his  passage  thither,  then 
it  was  that  He  gave  them  the  memorable  reply  which 
opens  at  once  the  ensuing  discourse,  and  puts  into  our 
hands  the  clew  that  is  to  guide  us  through  its  succeed- 
ing changes  :  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  ye  seek 
me,  not  because  ye  saw  the  miracles,  but  because  ye 
did  eat  of  the  loaves  and  were  filledy  This  is  the  very 
generating  point  of  the  whole  figure  in  which  he  pro- 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      263 

ceeds  to  clothe  his  speech.  "  Labor  not,"  he  imme- 
diately adds,  "Labor  not  for  the  meat  which  perisheth, 
but  for  that  meat  which  endureth  unto  everlasting  life, 
which  the  Son  of  Man  shall  give  you  ;  for  him  hath 
God  the  Father  sealed."  His  very  first  words  were  a 
figure  drawn  fram  His  own  allusion  to  their  feeding  on 
the  five  barley  loaves  and  two  small  fishes  ;  and  His 
very  next  furnish  the  meaning  of  the  figure,  and  give  us, 
not  only  a  clew  through  the  changes  of  His  discourse, 
but  also  a  key  to  unlock  its  deepest  teachings.  "  What 
shall  we  do,"  they  again  inquire,  "  that  we  might  work 
the  works  of  God  V  Mark  His  answer :  "  This  is  the 
work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  Him  whom  He  hath 
sent."  Himself,  as  the  Sent  of  God,  to  achieve  the 
great  work,  and  to  unfold  the  grand  truths  of  man's  re- 
demption ;  this  was  the  meat  for  which  they  were  to  la- 
bor :  faith  in  Him  as  "  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life  ;" 
this  was  their  sole  receiving  of  the  meat  so  furnished  ; 
and  l\\e  figure,  in  which  He  called  it  meat,  was  suggest- 
ed by  what  had  passed  so  recently  before  their  eyes. 

With  this  clew  and  key,  both  to  the  changes  and  to 
the  teachings  of  this  discourse,  let  us  now  advance,  fol- 
lowing our  Divine  Teacher  to  its  close.  Having  pro- 
posed to  the  multitude  the  true  meat,  and  called  on  them 
to  receive  it  hy  faith  in  Him  as  the  Sent  of  God,  they 
asked  Him,  "  What  sign  showest  thou,  then,  that  we 
may  see  and  believe  thee  \  What  dost  thou  work  1  Our 
fathers  did  eat  manna  in  the  desert  ;  as  it  is  written, 
'He  gave  them  bread  from  heaven  to  eat.'"  To  this 
unreasonable  demand  of  a  sign  such  as  might  chal- 
lenge their  faith,  when  Christ  was  daily  giving  signs 
which  awed  dumb  nature  herself  into  most  profound 
changes  in  obedience  to  His  will ;  and  to  their  dispara- 
ging comparison  of  Him  with  Moses,  as  though  the  lat- 
ter alone  had  challenged  faith  by  his  miracles,  Christ 


264  THE    NATURE    OF    THE    LORD  S    SUPPER. 

replied,  "  Moses  gave  you  not  that  bread  from  heaven" 
of  which  I  have  spoken,  "  but  my  Father  giveth  you  the 
true  bread  from  heaven.  For  the  Bread  of  God  is  He 
which  cometh  down  from  heaven,  and  giveth  life  unto 
the  world."  Here  we  have  the  first  change  in  the  dis- 
course ;  and  we  see  clearly  its  object,  and  how  natural- 
ly it  followed,  both  from  the  opening  allusion  to  the 
feeding  of  the  five  thousand,  and  from  the  allusion  here 
made  to  the  manna.  They  were  willing  to  make  a 
temporal  king  of  one  who  could  so  easily  feed  and  sup- 
port conquering  armies  ;  but  to  His  character  as  their 
spiritual  Messiah,  their  Savior  from  sin,  they  were 
blind.  They  wanted  nothing  of  such  a  deliverer,  and 
were  indisposed  to  listen  to  His  deep  and  saving  teach- 
ings. He,  however,  understood  their  temper,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  manage  it  with  His  usual  consummate  skill. 
He  gently  checked  their  disposition  to  wander  from 
the  point  which  He  had  in  view,  and  drew  them  back 
to  Himself,  and  to  those  deep  truths  concerning  Him- 
self as  the  true  Savior  which  He  wished  to  inculcate. 
At  first,  He  had  proposed  to  give  them — not  "  the  meat 
that  'perisheth^''  like  the  barley  loaves  and  fishes — but 
"  the  meat  that  endureth  unto  everlasting  lifeP  And  when 
they  turn  disparagingly  from  Him  to  their  own  Moses, 
and  talk  of  his  having  "  given  bread  from  heaven^''  to 
their  forefathers.  He  seizes  on  the  hint,  and  gives  a 
change,  not  to  the  real  drift,  but  to  the  figurative  dress 
of  His  discourse,  calculated  and  intended  to  draw  them 
still  nearer  to  Himself,  and  to  the  glorious  truth  which 
He  was  seeking  to  bring  into  their  minds.  "Moses,  in- 
deed, gave  you  manna  from  heaven,  yet  not  the  trve 
bread  which  you  need.  This  my  Father  giveth  you  for 
the  salvation  of  your  souls.  The  Bread  of  God  is  He 
which  cometh  down  from  heaven  and  giveth  life  unto 
the  world."     Still,  He  utters  not  the  whole  of  the  truth 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORD  S  SUPPER.      265 

which  filled  his  thoughts.  He  tells  them,  indeed,  of 
One  that  cometh  down  from  heaven  to  save  the  world ; 
but  He  tells  them  not  yet  whom  He  means  by  that  won- 
drous One  ;  His  object  being  first  to  stimulate,  and  then 
to  satisfy  inquiry. 

His  design  prospered.  "  Lord,"  said  they,  "  ever- 
more give  us  this  bread."  Their  curiosity  was  excited. 
They  knew  that  the  miraculous  supply  which  they  had 
recently  received  could  nourish  them  but  for  the  day. 
They  would,  therefore,  fain  know  something  of  a  bread 
that  could  give  life.  Here,  then,  comes  ^Ae  second  change 
in  Christ's  discourse,  and  with  it  the  full  truth  which 
He  would  teach,  followed  by  a  still  fuller  explanation  of 
its  meaning.  He  saw  that  they  had  yet  false  concep- 
tions of  the  bread  which  He  offered,  and  of  the  life 
which  it  was  to  give.  To  their  eager  petition,  there- 
fore, "Lord,  evermore  give  us  this  bread,"  He  at  once, 
and  without  disguise,  replied,  "/am  the  Bread  of  Life. 
He  that  cometh  to  me  shall  never  hunger,  and  he  that 
believeth  on  me  shall  never  thirst."  The  figurative  dress 
of  the  discourse  is  here  changed  from  the  summary  ex- 
pression, "Bread  of  God  that  givetk  life"  to  the  more 
condensed  summary,  "  Bread  of  Life  ;"  and  the  dress, 
thus  changed,  Christ  wrappeth  still  more  closely  and  ex- 
clusively around  Himself ;  that,  if  possible,  there  may 
be  no  farther  mistake  of  His  meaning.  "/,"  says  He, 
"  am  the  Bread  of  Life."  And  yet  His  meaning  itself  is 
not  changed.  He  is  still  but  presenting  Himself  under 
this  figure  as  the  only  Savior  of  lost  men,  the  only  De- 
liverer from  the  curse  of  sin.  Hence  it  is  that,  with 
the  same  meaning,  though  in  a  somewhat  altered  dress,  he 
gives  the  same  explanation,  though  in  a  somewhat /w/^er 
form,  of  that  necessary  act  by  which  sinners  are  to  re- 
ceive  and  realize  Him  as  their  Savior.  He  says  not  merely, 
as  before,  "  This  is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on 

Z 


266^      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.. 

Him  whom  He  hath  sent ;"  but,  more  largely,  and  witfe 
a  stricter  reference  to  Himself,  "  He  that  cometh  to  me 
shall  never  hunger,  and  he  that  believeth  on  me  shalB 
never  thirst."  In  other  words,  the  great  truth  wrapped 
up  in  this  figurative  discourse,  as  thus  far  taught  and 
explained,  amounts  simply  to  this:  '^' I  am  the  bread  of 
life  ;  the  true  and  only  Savior  from  sin  j  the  true  and 
only  author  and  giver  of  eternal  life  ;  come  unto  me  and 
believe  on  me,  and  you  shall,  in  this  very  act  of  coming- 
and  believing,  receive  this  bread  to  your  salvation ; 
you  shall  hunger  no  more  and  thirst  no  more,  but  be 
forever  satisfied  with  the  fullness  of  everlasting  bliss." 
See,  now,  how  all  this  grows  into  distinctness  in  what 
immediately  follows  of  the  discourse.  "But!  said  unto 
you,  that  ye  also  have  seen  me  and  believe  not.''''  I  know- 
well  the  blindness  of  the  Jewish  mind,  which  shuts  the 
true  Savior  from  its  vision,  and,  therefore,  earnest  as 
1  am  to  teach  you  the  truth,  I  know  ye  will  not  all  re- 
ceive it.  Nevertheless,  "  All  that  the  Father  giveth  me 
shall  come  to  me ;  and  him  that  cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no 
wise  cast  out.  For  I  came  down  from  heaven,  not  to  do 
mine  own  will,  but  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  me.  And 
this  is  the  Father's  will  which  hath  sent  me,  that,  of  all 
which  He  hath  given  me,  I  should  lose  nothing,  but 
should  raise  it  up  again  at  the  last  day.  This  also  is 
the  will  of  Him  that  sent  me,  that  every  one  which 
seeth  the  Son,  and  believelh  on  him,  may  have  everlasting 
life  ;  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day."  Here,  I 
say,  the  great  meaning  and  its  explanation  are  seen 
growing  into  distinctness  and  fullness.  Here  is  Jesus, 
the  true  and  only  Savior,  knowing  who  are  his  own,  and 
promising  never  to  cast  them  out.  Here,  too,  is  faith, 
"  coming  to''"'  Jesus  in  the  inner  movement  of  the  soul  j 
faith,  "  seeing  the  Son,"  with  a  spiritual  discernment  of 
his  true  character  j  faith,  in  short,  receiving  him  as  that 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.       267 

great  act  by  which  the  benefits  of  his  salvation  are  realized 
and  secured.  And  here,  finally,  is  the  life  in  which  the 
glorious  work  of  redemption  ends — not  the  life  which  is 
supposed  to  spring  from  a  miraculous  commingling  and  co- 
uniting  of  Christ's  incarnate  body  and  blood  with  the  very 
substance  of  the  body  and  soul  of  the  Christian  ;  but  that 
life  which,  actually  having  its  root  in  faith,  bides  on  through 
the  grave,  and,  on  the  morning  of  the  resurrection,  springs 
up  into  a  plant  of  immortality,  reanimates  the  glorious  body 
which  the  power  of  Christ  has  gathered  from  its  sleeping 
dust,  and,  thus  perfect,  flourishes  and  is  blessed  forever 
with  Him,  who  has  proved  both  its  "  Author  and  its  Fin- 
isher." 

But  let  us  pass  on  through  the  discourse.  "  The  Jews 
murmured  at  Jesus,  because  he  said,  '  I  am  the  bread  which 
came  doion  from  heaven.''  Is  not  this  Jesus,  the  son  of  Jo- 
seph, whose  father  and  mother  we  know  ?  How  is  it,  then, 
that  He  saith,  /  came  down  from  heai'cn  V  To  this  cavil 
the  patient  Teacher  replied,  "  Murmur  not  among  yourselves. 
No  man  can  come  to  me,  except  the  Father,  which  hath 
sent  me,  draw  him ;  and  him  will  I  raise  up  at  the  last  day. 
It  is  written  in  the  prophets,  '  A7id  they  shall  be  all  taught 
of  God. ^  Every  man,  therefore,  that  hath  heard  and  hath 
learned  of  the  Father,  cometh  unto  me.  Not  that  any  man 
hath  seen  the  Father,  save  he  which  is  of  God  ;  he  hath 
seen  the  Father.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  he  that 
believeth  on  me  hath  everlasting  life.  I  am  that  bread  of 
life.  Your  fathers  did  eat  manna  in  the  wilderness,  and 
are  dead.  This  is  the  bread  that  cometh  down  from  heaven, 
that  a  man  may  eat  thereof  and  not  die.  I  am  the  living 
bread,  which  came  down  from  heaven  ;  if  any  man  eat  of 
this  bread,  he  shall  live  forever.  And  the  bread  that  I  will 
give  is  my  fiesh,  which  I  will  give  for  the  life  of  the  world." 

Here  we  have  the  third  change  in  the  figurative  dress, 
which  Christ  chose  for  his  thought  in  this  discourse.    After 


268      THE  NATURE  OP  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

repeating,  with  a  slight  variation,  the  previous  form  of  the 
figure  by  calling  Himself  not  only  "  the  bread  of  life,"  but 
also  "  the  living  bread,"  He  adds,  that  this  "  bread,  which  He 
will  give  for  the  life  of  the  world,  is  His  flesh."  Neverthe- 
less, this  is  but  another  new  form  of  the  figure.  When,  after 
first  pointing  somewhat  obscurely  to  Himself  as  "  the  meat, 
which  endureth  unto  everlasting  life"  (drawing  His  figure 
from  the  miracle  of  feeding  the  multitude),  he  changed  His 
speech  by  distinctly  calling  Himself  "  the  bread  of  life," 
"  the  bread  of  God  which  giveth  life  ;"  it  was  but  a  change 
of  the  figure  from  one  form  to  another  ;  a  change  very  natu- 
rally suggested  by  the  reference  which  had  been  made  to 
the  manna.  So  also  here  :  when,  after  calling  Himself 
again  "  the  bread  of  life,"  "  the  living  bread,"  He  again 
changes  his  speech,  and  says  that  this  bread  "  is  His  flesh," 
it  is  but  another  change  in  the  form  of  the  figure.  It  is 
not  a  change  from  the  figurative  style  of  speech  to  the  liter- 
al. It  is  rather  a  recurrence  from  the  incidentally  sug- 
gested figure  of  "  the  bread,"  to  that  first  adopted  when  he 
bade  the  multitude  "  labor  for  the  meat  which  endureth 
unto  everlasting  life."  And  the  object  of  the  change  evi- 
dently was,  as  before,  to  wrap  the  figurative  dress  of  His 
discourse  still  more  closely  and  exclusively  around  Himself, 
that  the  murmuring  cavilers  might  have  no  excuse  for 
again  attempting  to  evade  the  point  of  His  teachings  by  fly- 
ing oflf  either  to  Moses  and  the  manna,  or  to  Joseph  and 
the  reputed  human  origin  of  Jesus. 

But  though  the  figurative  dress  of  His  discourse  was  again 
changed,  yet  the  great  truth  which  it  covered  remained  still 
unchanged.  He  was  still  but  presenting  Himself,  though 
more  and  more  prominently,  as  the  only  Savior,  who  had 
come  down  from  heaven  to  open  the  way,  and  to  bring  the 
offer  of  salvation  to  a  lost  world ;  while,  on  the  manner  in 
which  we  are  to  become  partakers  of  this  salvation,  the  por- 
tion of  his  discourse  now  before  us  pours  a  flood  of  new 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      269 

and  brilliant  light.  He  had  before  explained  that  to  receive 
ifie  meat  which  the  Son  of  Man  would  give,  or  to  eat  the 
bread  which  in  Him  came  down  from  heaven,  consists  in 
"  heiieving"  on  Him,  in  "  coming'''  to  Him  hy  faith,  or  in  "  see- 
ing"  Him  with  this  spiritual  eye.  He  now  separates  this 
act  of  receiving  Christ  still  more  effectually  from  that  idea 
of  a  mysterious  commingling  of  natures,  to  which  I  have 
adverted.  Seeing  the  multitude  disposed  to  cavil  at  his 
words,  and  to  reject  his  claims,  He  addressed  to  them 
the  important  language  which  I  have  quoted,  "  No  man  can 
come  to  me  except  the  Father,  which  hath  sent  me,  draw 
him."  "  It  is  written  in  the  prophets,  '  They  shall  be  all 
taught  of  God.''  Every  man,  therefore,  that  hath  heard  and 
hath  learned  of  the  Father,  cometh  unto  me."  The  Father 
"  draws"  to  the  Son  by  the  instrumentality  of  "  teaching,'" 
and  they  who  spiritually  "  hear"  this  teaching,  and  thus 
effectually  "  learn"  what  is  taught, "  come"  unto  Christ,  "  be- 
lieve"  on  Him,  receive  the  imperishable  "  meat  which  the 
Son  of  Man  giveth,"  eat  "  the  bread  which  cometh  down 
from  heaven,"  yea,  eat  the  ^^ flesh  which  he  giveth  for  the 
life  of  the  world."  All  these  are  but  varying  expressions 
of  one  unvarying  idea,  that  of  receiving  Christ  as  a  Savior, 
or  of  becoming  partakers  of  the  salvation  which  He  brings  ; 
and  the  faith,  by  which  we  thus  receive  Him,  or  become 
partakers  of  his  salvation,  is  generated  amid  the  intelligible 
teachings  of  God,  and  in  the  process  of  intelligently  "  hear- 
ing," and,  in  a  docile  and  obedient  spirit,  "  learning"  the 
truths  which  we  are  taught  concerning  Him. 

Thus  far,  then,  the  character  and  meaning  of  this  great  dis- 
course of  Christ  are  plain.  Both  his  position  and  his  design 
are  evidently  seen.  He  was  contending  with  a  Divine  wis- 
dom and  skill,  which  nothing  could  resist  but  that  against 
which  he  was  contending — the  carnal  blindness  and  the  ob- 
stinate prejudice  of  his  Jewish  hearers  ;  and  his  whole  ob- 
ject in  the  contest  was,  to  make  them  comprehend  these 

Y2 


270      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORD  S  SUPPER. 

essential  and  vital  truths  :  that  He  was  their  true  Messiah 
and  only  Savior;  and  that  faith  in  Him  was  the  only  way 
in  which  they  could  become  partakers  of  his  salvation.  The 
former  of  these  truths  (according  as  he  was  wont,  so  long 
before  the  closing  act  in  his  Divine  drama  justified  him  in 
removing  all  covering  from  his  speech),  the  former  of  these 
truths  he  expressed  in  figures.  The  latter  he  taught  most- 
ly in  plain  language.  Hence  it  is  that,  throughout  the  dis- 
course up  to  this  point,  the  figurative  and  the  literal  alter- 
nate, and  that  in  most  palpably  distinguishable  forms.  When 
speaking  of  Himself  as  the  partially  manifested,  yet  still  not 
fully  revealed,  God  in  Christ,  the  long-expected  Messiah  of 
the  nations.  He  calls  himself,  in  various  figures,  "  the  meat 
which  endureth  to  everlasting  life ;"  "  the  true  Bread  from 
Heaven  ;"  "  the  Bread  of  God,  which  giveth  life  to  the 
world  ;"  "  the  Bread  of  Life  ;"  "  the  Living  Bread  ;"  "  the 
Flesh,  which  he  giveth  for  the  life  of  the  world."  But, 
when  speaking  of  the  process  and  act,  in  which  we  receive 
Him  as  a  Savior,  or  become  partakers  of  His  salvation.  He 
describes  it  in  plain  language  ;  or,  if  some  of  it  were  ori- 
ginally j?gMraiM'e,  still,  it  has  become  so  common  as  to  be 
considered  virtually  literal.  He  describes  that  process  as 
being  "  drawn"  by  being  "  taught ;"  and  as  a  "  learning" 
which  follows  "  hearing  ;"  and  he  describes  this  act  as  faith, 
as  "  believing  on  Him  ;"  as  "  coming  to  Him  ;"  and  as  "  see- 
ing" Him.  At  the  point  in  his  discourse  which  we  have 
now  reached,  he  changes  his  speech,  it  is  true,  even  in  de- 
scribing this  act ;  and,  instead  of  calling  it  any  longer,  be- 
lieving on  Him,  or  coming  to  Him,  He  throws  this  also  into 
a  figure,  and  calls  it  "  eating  the  bread  which  cometh  down 
from  heaven."  Thus,  he  prepares  the  way  for  carrying  this 
figure  still  farther,  and  expressing  the  idea  of  believing  on 
Him,  or  oi  coming  to  Him,  under  the  altered  dress  of,  not  only 
"  eating  the  bread  which  cometh  down  from  heaven,"  but 
also  "  eating  the  fiesh  and  drinking  the  blood  of  the  Son  of 


THE   NATURE    OP  THE   LORd's  SUPPER.  271 

Man."  And  yet,  even  Hiis  change  does  but  show,  still  more 
unquestionably,  the  really  figurative  character  of  the  whole 
main  body  of  the  discourse  ;  since,  to  "  eat  the  hread  whick 
Cometh  down  from  heaven,"  and  to  "  eat  thefiesh  of  the  Son 
of  Man,"  are  undeniably  the  same  act,  both  e<\\xa\\y  figurative, 
both  finding  their  literal  sense  in  faith. 

Having  thus,  by  the  clew  put  into  our  hands,  threaded  our 
way  through  the  changes  of  this  discourse,  and  also,  by  the 
key  furnished  us,  unlocked  its  meaning,  we  are  now  ready 
to  enter  on  that  part  of  it  which  I  have  called  the  key-text 
to  that  peculiar  doctrine  of  the  Eucharist  which  has  been 
stated. 

At  what  Christ  had  just  said  about  giving  his  fiesh  for  the 
life  of  the  world,  "  the  Jews,"  with  utter  perverseness,  un- 
derstanding him  literally,  or  rather  7?i«.sunderstanding  his 
words,  fell  to  "  strife  among  themselves,  saying.  How  can 
this  man  give  us  his  fiesh  to  eat  V  To  this  evidence  of 
their  determination  not  to  take  his  meaning,  or  of  their  sin- 
ful blindness  to  that  meaning,  Jesus,  not  choosing  to  throw 
ofT  its  figurative  dress,  replied,  in  continuance  of  His  dis- 
course, "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  except  ye  eat  the 
flesh  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  drink  His  blood,  ye  have  no 
life  in  you.  Whoso  eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood 
hath  eternal  life,  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day. 
For  my  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  my  blood  is  drink  indeed. 
He  that  eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood,  dwelleth  in 
me  and  I  in  him.  As  the  living  Father  hath  sent  me,  and 
i  live  by  the  Father,  so  he  that  eateth  me,  even  he  shall  live 
by  me.  This  is  that  bread  which  came  down  from  heaven  ; 
not  as  your  fathers  did  eat  manna,  and  are  dead ;  he  that 
eateth  of  this  bread  shall  live  forever." 

After  the  remarks  which  I  have  already  offered,  tracing 
the  discourse  onward  from  its  starting-point  in  the  eating  of 
ihe  barley  loaves  and  the  fishes,  the  meaning  of  all  this,  I 
conceive,  is  no  longer  doubtful.     It  is  a  most  strikingly  fig- 


272  THE    NATURE    OF    THE    LORd's    SUPPER. 

urative  close  of  a  discourse  highly  figurative  throughout ; 
conveying,  indeed,  the  most  weighty  of  all  meanings,  and  yet 
conveying  it  under  the  dress  of  an  unquestionable  figure. 
Reading  it  by  the  light  already  gathered  round  it,  it  may  be 
thus  paraphrased,  or  put  into  its  appropriate  literal  dress  : 

(vs.  52,  53.)  "  There  is  essential  and  necessary  truth  i'n 
what  I  have  been  teaching  ;  and,  therefore,  though  ye  choose 
to  '  stumble  at  the  word,'  and  to  cavil  at  the  dress,  in  which 
I  have  seen  fit  to  clothe  my  speech,  yet  I  reaffirm  what  I 
have  said  ;  and,  taking  up  the  lastybr?;i  which  the  figure  of 
my  discourse  hath  assumed,  I  solemnly  assure  you,  that, 
unless  ye  do  what  I  have  taught  you  ;  unless  you  '  see,'  or 
spiritually  discern,  '  the  Son ;'  urdess  you  are  '  drawn''  to> 
me  by  '  hearing'  and  '  learning'  the  spiritual  '  teachings  of 
God  ;'  unless  you  thus  '  come  to  me,'  and  '  believe  on  me,' 
as  your  only  Savior ;  unless  you  thus  '  labor  for  the  meat 
which  perlsheth  not,'  and  thus  eat  '  the  bread  which  com- 
eth  down  from  heaven  ;'  ijea,  unless  you  thus  '  eat  the  fiesh 
and  drink  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  Man,  as  given  for  the  life 
of  the  world,'  you  can  not  be  saved  ;  you  give  evidence  that 
you  have  not  that  spiritual  life  in  you  which  hath  its  root  in 
the  very  faith  required  of  you,  and  that,  therefore,  you  caa 
not  come  to  that  eternal  life  which  is  to  follow  the  glorious 
resurrection  at  the  last  day.  (v.  54.)  For  they  only  who 
thus  eat  my  flesh  and  drink  my  blood ;  they  oidy  who  thus 
spiritivally  discern  and  truly  believe  in  me  as  the  Son  of 
God,  the  Savior  of  the  world,  enjoy  the  consciousness  of 
having  this  inward  life  now,  or  have  promise  of  inlicriling 
that  eternal  life  at  the  resurrection.  And  tliis  conscious- 
ness and  this  promise  all  enjoy  who  do  thus  receive  mc. 
(v.  55.)  For  my  flesh  and  my  blood,  thus  by  faith  received 
and  applied,  are  meat  and  drink  indeed  :  my  teachings  right- 
ly understood,  and  my  salvation  accepted,  by  faith,  beget 
a  spiritual  life  in  the  soul  v/hich  shall  never  be  extinguish- 
ed,    {y.  C6.)  He  that,.  i:i  the  sens©  iiitended,,  eateth  my 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      273 

flesh  and  drinketli  my  blood,  he  who  spiritually  discerns 
ray  true  character,  and  believingly  comes  to  me  and  receives 
me  as  the  true  Savior,  he  dioelleth  in  me  and  /  in  him ;  he 
is  a  living  branch  in  me  as  the  true  vine,  and  receives  both 
the  graces  and  the  growth  of  his  inner  life  from  me  as  their 
true  source  ;  he  is  a  member  of  my  spiritual  body,  by  the 
faith  which  he  has  in  me  ;  and  I  live  in  him  by  the  power 
of  that  truth  which  he  has  received  of  me,  and  by  the  work- 
ings of  that  life  which  is  thus  nourished  from  me.  I  live 
in  him  by  the  sweetness  of  those  thoughts  which  such  a 
life  hath  of  me,  and  in  the  comforts  of  that  hope  with  which 
such  a  life  is  inspired  by  me.  (v.  57.)  As  the  Father,  who 
is  essential  life,  hath  sent  me  to  be  a  Savior,  and  as  I  live 
by  the  Father,  through  a  participation  in  His  essential  life, 
or  by  having  the  holiness  of  my  humanity  sustained  by  His 
providence  and  by  His  influences  ;  so,  he  that,  with  a  true 
faith,  receives  me  as  I  have  taught,  even  he  shall  live  by 
me  ;  his  faith  in  me  shall,  as  a  root,  nourish  in  his  soul  a 
spiritual  life  similar  in  its  holiness  to  that  of  the  Divine  na- 
ture itself ;  a  life  upheld  in  its  present  power  by  my  provi- 
dence, and  nurtured  to  its  final  perfection  by  my  grace,  (v. 
58.)  This  is  what  I  mean  by  the  bread  that  cometh  down 
from  heaven,  as  ex])ressed  under  the  former  dress  of  my  fig- 
ure ;  this  is  what  I  then  meant  by  eating  that  bread ;  and 
this  is  what  I  now  mean  by  eating  the  flesh  and  drinking  the 
blood  of  the  Son  of  Man  as  given  for  the  life  of  the  world. 
And  if  you  have  a  right  understanding  of  my  meaning,  you 
will  see  that,  marvelous  as  was  the  supply  of  manna  which 
God  gave  by  Moses,  it  was  at  best  but  a  perishable  type 
of  me,  and  of  the  vitally  nourishing  truths  which  I  teach. 
Your  fathers  ate  that  manna  and  died  :  I  give  you  a  bread, 
which  whosoever  eateth,  shall  never  die.  They  who  truly 
believe  in  me,  may  drop  their  bodies  for  a  season  in  the 
grave  j  but  in  their  souls  they  shall  live  on  a  most  blessed 
life ;  and  at  the  resurrection  I  will  raise,  and  spiritualize, 


274      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

and  glorify  even  their  bodies  to  be  the  appropriate  and  the 
immortal  companions  of  their  blessedness." 

It  was  said,  a  iew  moments  since,  that,  in  all  this  dis- 
course of  Christ,  not  a  shadow  of  the  cross  is  seen.  What 
was  meant  by  the  saying  is  now  manifest.  In  this  dis- 
course, Christ  was  undoubtedly  bodying  forth,  through  fig- 
ures, the  fact  which  comprehe7ids  the  great  doctrine  of  atone- 
ment, the  all-embracing  fact  that  He  came  to  save  His  peo- 
ple from  their  sins,  and  to  give  them  life,  spiritual  and  eter- 
nal, through  faith  in  Him  as  their  Savior.  But  to  His  cross 
and  His  passion,  as  the  mysteries  in  which  His  atoning  sacri- 
fice was  to  be  consummated,  He  evidently  was  not  pointing. 
He  spake  naught  of  suffering,  he  spake  naught  of  death. 
The  figure  which  He  finally  adopted  of  "  eating  His  fiesh 
and  drinking  His  blood,"  He  plainly  drew,  7iot  from  His  cruci- 
fixion, as  then  future  ;  but  from  His  miracle  of  feeding  the 
multitude,  as  just  wrought.  It  is  clearly  observable  through- 
out His  discourse,  that  at  each  change  in  the  figurative  dress 
of  His  one  thought,  He  does  but  seize  and  spiritualize  upon 
hints  thrown  out  by  His  opponents,  as,  at  the  first  assump- 
tion of  that  dress,  He  does  but  seize  and  spiritualize  upon 
the  incident  of  His  fieedijig  them  with  the  barley  loaves  and 
the  fishes.  Thus,  when  they  came  seeking  Him,  after  hav- 
ing eateji  of  His  miraculous  supply,  He  takes  up  that  inci- 
dent, makes  a  garment  of  it  for  His  speech,  and  exclaims, 
"  Labor  not  for  the  meat  which  perisheth,  but  for  that  meat 
which  endureth  unto  everlasting  life."  Thus,  again,  when 
they  seek  to  turn  the  point  of  His  discourse,  by  bringing 
forward  Moses  and  the  manna  which  he  gave  as  "  bread 
from  heaven,"  He  seizes  on  their  allusion,  changes  the  dress 
of  His  thought,  wraps  that  dress  still  more  closely  around 
himself,  and  thus  prevents  their  escaping  from  His  point  by 
exclaiming,  "  I  am  the  bread  of  life,"  "  the  true  bread  from 
heaven,"  "  the  bread  of  God,"  "  which  giveth  life  unto  the 
world."     And  thus,  finally,  when  He  had  spoken  of  giving 


THE  NATURE  OP  THE  LORD  S  SUPPER.      275 

**  His  flesh,"  that  is,  liimsdf,  "  for  the  life  of  the  world,"  and 
when  they  perversely  torture  His  language  into  the  harsh 
idea  i)f  His  literally  "  giving  them  His  flesh  to  eat"  though 
oi  eating  it  ?Ie  had  said  nothing,  He  again  takes  up  their  own 
language,  changes  once  more  the  dress  of  His  one  thought, 
draws  that  dress  more  closely  than  ever  around  himself,  and 
without  deigning  to  drop  His  figure  in  accommodation  to 
their  perverseness,  exclaims,  "  Even  so  ;  I  will  teach  my 
truth  in  your  own  terms  ;  most  solemnly  do  I  assure  you, 
with  a  firm  reiteration  of  my  meaning,  covered  as  it  may  be 
from  you  by  its  figurative  dress,  and  by  your  own  voluntary 
blindness,  iiiost  solemnly  do  I  assure  you,  that  unless,  in  the 
sense  which  i  have  already  repeatedly  as  well  as  literally 
expressed — unless,  as  thus  explained,  you  eat  the  flesh  and 
drink  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  Man,  ye  have  no  life  in  you." 
The  thonght  need  not  be  followed  again  through  the  re- 
mainder of  the  discourse.  My  object  in  thus  recurring  to 
it  is  to  bring  out,  into  still  gi'eater  prominence,  both  the^o'- 
uralive  character  of  Christ's  teaching,  and  the  fact  that  His 
figure  originally,  and  the  changes  of  His  figure  throughout, 
are  drawn,  not  from  the  then  future  crucifixion-scene,  but 
from  His  past  miracle  o{ feeding  the  multitude,  and  from  the 
passing  hints,  which  He  took  and  turned  to  use,  from  the 
cavils  of  his  unreasonable  opponents.  The  idea  of  "  eating 
His  flesh"  was  not  originally  His  own,  but  that  of  the  cavil- 
ers  at  his  words  ;  and,  like  the  phrase  "  bread  from  heaven," 
was  merely  seized  upon  as  a  new  form  to  the  figurative 
dress  of  the  one,  great,  all-pervading  thought  of  His  discourse. 
He  was  teaching  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  faith  in  Him 
as  an  atoning  Savior,  and  illustrating  it  by  past  and  passing 
incidents  ;  not  pointing  forward  to  the  crucifixion  as  the 
mystery  in  which  His  work  of  atonement  was  to  be  consum- 
mated. I  repeat,  in  this  discourse  the  shadow  of  the  cross 
is  not  seen.  He  spake  not  a  word  here  of  death ;  not  a 
word  here  of  suffering.     Himself  given  for  the  life  of  the 


276  THE    NATURE    OF   THE    LORD  S   SITPPEE. 

world  through  faith — this  was  the  single  burden  of  His 
teaching  ;  and  the  dress  in  which  He  clothed  it  He  gathered 
from  His  recent  feeding  miracle,  and  drew  it  closer  and 
closer  around  himself  at  every  attempt  of  His  opponents  to 
tear  it  oft'. 

There  is  one  circumstance  to  which  I  have  not  yet  ad- 
verted, but  which  confirms  the  view  just  given,  that  the  one 
thought  which  has  been  brought  out  runs  throughout  the  dis- 
course, and  lies  under  all  the  forms  which  the  figure  of  the 
discourse  assumes.  At  the  very  opening  of  the  discourse, 
Christ  says,  "  Labor  not  for  the  meat  that  perisheth,  but  for 
that  meat  (tt^v  [ipoJOLv)  which  endureth  unto  everlasting 
life." — V.  27.  And  just  before  the  close  of  the  discourse, 
after  it  had  assumed  the  last  form  of  the  figure,  He  adds, 
with  evident  recurrence  to  what  He  at  first  said,  "  My  flesh 
is  truly  meat'"  {j3pojoi,g,  v.  55) ;  thus  showing  that,  under  all 
changes  of  dress,  He  had  carried  through  one  unchanged 
body  of  truth.  The  same  thing  is  evident  in  the  recurrence, 
at  the  very  close  of  the  discourse,  of  another  term,  which  He 
had  used  just  after  its  opcniiig.  In  the  thirty-second  verse 
He  took  up  the  allusion  to  the  manna,  and  called  himself  the 
"  true  Iread  (rov  aprov)  from  heaven."  In  the  fifty-eighth 
verse  He  says  of  "  his  flesh"  (a  mere  synonym  for  himself ), 
"  This  is  that  bread  which  came  down  from  heaven." 
"  Whosoever  eateth  this  hread  {rov  aprov)  shall  live  forev- 
er." These  two  correspondences  are  a  double  chain,  link- 
ing all  the  figurative  parts  of  the  discourse  together,  and,  in 
fact,  making  them  all  but  a  single  dress,  though  of  several 
folds,  inwrapping  the  one  vital  body  of  truth,  which  Christ 
sought  to  illustrate  and  commend  to  the  understanding  of 
His  hearers.  Whether,  at  the  opening  of  His  discourse.  He 
exhorts  them  to  labor  for  that  ineat  which  himself  would 
give — and  then,  near  its  close,  says  that  Hisfiesh  is  meat  in- 
deed— or  whether,  near  its  opening.  He  calls  himself  the  true 
bread  from  heaven,  and  then,  at  its  close,  says  that  Hisfiesh 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      27? 

is  that  bread,  He  equally  shows  that,  while  the^^wre  is  man- 
ifold, the  thought  is  one;  His  flesh — that  is,  Himself — 
given  for  the  life  of  the  world  through  faith. 

It  is,  of  course,  self-evident,  that  if,  in  all  this,  Christ 
draws  His  manifold  figure  from  past  and  passing  incidents, 
and  not  from  the  future  crucifixion  scene,  there  can  not  be, 
in  the  last  paragraph  of  the  discourse  (that  great  key-text 
of  the  doctrine  of  the  Eucharist  as  it  has  been  exhibited), 
any  allusion  to  what  this  doctrine  terms  "  eating  the  flesh 
and  drinking  the  blood  of  Christ,"  as  conveyed  in  and  by 
the  consecrated  elements  and  the  hands  of  him  who  dis- 
penses them.  If  that  discourse  draw  not  its  dress  from  a 
yet  future  cross,  this  dress  can  not  cover  that  meaning  of 
sacramental  eating  and  drinking  which  lives  only  in  sight, 
and  at  the  foot,  of  the  cross. 

If  the  true  doctrine  of  this  discourse  were  to  be  stated  in 
somewhat  fuller  terms  than  those  of  the  very  brief  summary 
just  given,  it  might  be  stated  thus :  "  As  the  Divine  Son  of 
God,  I  am  come  into  the  world  to  be  the  bread  of  life,  the 
true  and  only  Savior  from  sin.  Without  me  there  can  be 
no  salvation.  Without  coming  to  me,  therefore,  and  believ- 
ing on  me,  no  one  who  hears  my  Gospel  can  receive  the 
salvation  which  I  bring.  And  whosoever,  under  the  draw- 
ing and  teaching  of  my  Divine  Father,  thus  comes  and  be- 
lieves, wherever  his  lot  may  be  cast,  and  however  destitute 
of  outward  privileges  he  may  be,  has  thereby  eternal  life, 
and,  continuing  steadfast  in  his  faith,  shall  never  perish." 
Here,  indeed,  we  have  a  truth  which  lies  at  the  very  heart 
of  the  Gospel ;  which  makes  this  Gospel  what  its  name 
signifies,  '^  glad  tidings  f^  and  which  pours  into  the  evan- 
gelic temple  a  glory  that  outshines  all  other  glories :  but 
we  have  not  one  word  about  the  sacrament ;  not  one  word 
to  divert  our  thoughts  from  Christ  himself  to  any  outward 
rite  in  which  His  atoning  work  might  subsequently  be  sym- 
bolized. 

A  A 


278      THE  NATURE  OP  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

This  sixth  chapter  of  John,  then,  though  it  thus  luminously 
displays  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  has  yet  nothing  to  do  with  an 
illustration  of  the  natwe  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Its  53d  and 
three  following  verses  are  wrongly  quoted,  when  they  are 
brought  to  illustrate  this  point.  There  is  no  ultimate  rea- 
son, or  authority,  for  thus  quoting  them,  but  naked  assump- 
tion ;  and  this  assumption,  by  however  many  jjo^^Nicene 
writers  it  may  have  been  made,  can  not  bear  the  intense 
light  which  pours  against  it  from  out  of  the  very  centre  of  the 
Divine  Record  itself.  It  may  be  well  to  add,  that,  did  my 
object  require  it,  and  the  limits  assigned  to  my  treatise  ad- 
mit, it  would  be  very  easy  to  show  that  the  view  which  I 
have  taken  of  this  chapter  is  fairly  consonant  with  the 
theology  of  the  anle-Wicene  Fathers,  and  substantially  sus- 
tained by  the  authority  of  the  best  standard  Biblical  inter- 
preters in  our  own  Church. 

My  examination  of  John  vi.  has  occupied  considerable 
time ;  not  so  much,  however,  as  the  importance  of  the  sub- 
ject would  have  justified.  I  have  not  attempted  a  complete 
analysis,  nor  an  exhausting  commentary  on  the  chapter  ;  but 
only  such  an  analysis  of  the  Discourse  into  lis  principal  Y>B.xis, 
and  such  a  commentary  on  its  chief  ixwXh,  as  were  necessary 
for  my  purpose  ;  that  of  showing  that  we  ccin  not  have  re- 
course to  this  chapter,  nor  to  any  part  of  it,  for  an  explana- 
tion of  the  nature  of  that  solemn  ordinance,  which  was, 
more  than  a  year  afterward,  instituted  at  the  last  Paschal 
Supper  of  Christ  with  His  disciples.  How  far  this  purpose 
has  been  effected  it  must  be  left  for  candid  minds  to  judge. 
This  much,  however,  must  be  acknowledged  :  the  authority 
of  Scripture,  as  it  here  forces  its  own  explanation,  is  greater 
than  that  of  any  merely  assumed  meaning,  however  im- 
posing be  the  array  of  names,  whether  from  middle,  or  from 
modern  ages,  upon  which  this  assumed  meaning  may  be 
shown  to  rest.  And  this  would  be  the  case,  even  were 
there  no  counter-array  of  names  in  support  of  the  view 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORDS  SUPPER.      279 

which  has  been  taken.  ^^When  the  Bible  clearly  and  con- 
sistently explains  itself,  its  authority  carries  a  power  of 
weight  which,  at  least  with  all  sound  Protestant  minds, 
bears  down  and  sweeps  away  the  opposing  authority  of  all 
human  names  ;  the  more  so,  when  these  names  are  gather- 
ed, not  from  the  purest,  but  from  the  more  corrupt  ages 
and  portions  of  the  Church. 

2.  I  pass  now  to  a  brief  notice  of  another  passage, 
usually  cited  in  support  of  that  view  of  the  nature  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  which  is  here  opposed.  It  is  found  in  the 
tenth  chapter  of  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  (v.  16), 
and  is  in  these  words  :  "  The  cup  of  blessing  which  we 
bless,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  blood  of  Christ  1  The 
bread  which  we  break,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  body 
of  Christ?" 

In  interpreting  this  passage,  two  things  are  taken  for 
granted  by  those  who  hold  the  view  just  named:  1.  That 
the  real  body  and  blood  of  Christ  are  verily  present  with  the 
consecrated  elements  of  bread  and  wine  in  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per :  2.  That  the  word  rendered  communion  means  commu- 
nication, or  conveyance ;  and  that,  therefore,  the  bread  and 
wine  communicate,  or  convey,  that  real  body  and  blood  to 
the  faithful  recipient.* 

But  this  interpretation  can  not  stand,  unless  it  be  first 
proved  that  the  real  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  "  the  very 
body  and  blood,"  which  were  offered  in  "  sacrifice  for  sin,"f 
are,  in  themselves,  as  well  as  by  their  represeiitalives,  pres- 
ent with  the  elements  in  the  Supper ;  nor  unless  it  can  be 

*  "The  bread  which  we  break  is  the  Koivojvla,  communion,  or  communi- 
cation, of  the  body  of  Christ ;"  that  whereby  His  body  is  give7i,  and  the 
faithful  are  made  partakers  of  it.'' — Tracts,  vol.  i.,  p.  205,  N.  Y. 

Dr.  Pusey  renders  the  other  part  of  the  expression  thus:  "The  cup  of 
blessing  which  we  bless,  is  it  not  the  participation  of  the  blood  of  Christ?" 
attaching,  of  course,  to  this  participation,  the  idea  which  runs  through  his 
discourse. — Sermon  before  the  University  of  Oxford,  p.  10. 

+  See  Pusey 's  Discourse,  p.  9. 


280      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

shown  that  the  Greek  word  rendered  "  com77iunion,"  truly 
carries  in  it  the  active  sense  of  a  communication,  or  convey' 
ance.  Neither  of  these  things  is  expressed  in  the  passage  ; 
neither  is  proved  by  those  who  quote  the  passage  ;  but  both 
are  assumed,  as  being  intended.  This,  however,  is  to  as- 
sume most  important  points  ;  the  very  points  in  controversy 
on  this  subject ;  the  very  things  which  are  to  be  settled. 
It  is  easy  to  say  that  a  certain  text  has  a  certain  sense  ;  and 
if  we  grant  it  because  it  is  said,  we  may,  indeed,  have  an 
"  end  of  controversy  ;"  yet  we  may  not  have  the  truth  in 
that  "end."  How  are  Christ's  body  and  blood  connected 
with  the  Eucharist?  And  hoio  are  the  bread  and  the  cup 
the  communion  of  His  body  and  blood  ?  These  are  ques- 
tions which  we  must  not  allow  any  one  to  settle  for  us  by 
a  word.  We  must  look  at  the  Scriptures  themselves,  and 
seek  to  draw  from  them  their  own  decision. 

As  to  the  former  of  these  questions,  then,  without  antici- 
pating what  is  to  be  said  of  it  hereafter,  it  will  suffice  for 
the  present  to  say,  that  this  passage,  1  Corinthians,  x.,  16, 
leaves  it  untouched.  It  says  that  "  the  bread  and  wine  are 
the  communion  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,"  without 
saying  either  where  or  what  that  body  and  blood  are.  We 
may  have  the  communion  of  an  absent  thing ;  and  if,  as  it 
is  said,  "  the  very  body  and  blood  which  were  broken  and 
shed  on  the  cross"  be  here  meant,  we  necessarily  have  the 
communion  of  things  absent.  That  body  and  blood  no 
longer  exist ;  unless  (contrary  to  what  St.  Paul  teaches) 
"flesh  and  blood  can  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God."  The 
body  and  blood  which  were  broken  and  shed  on  the  cross 
have  been  changed  from  corruptible  to  incorruption,  and 
from  mortal  to  immortality.  They  have  become  Christ's 
"glorious  body^""  a  spiritualized  form,  which  is  no  longer 
'■'•  jiesh  and  bloodP  Necessarily,  therefore,  I  repeat  it,  if  the 
"  flesh  and  blood"  which  were  offered  on  the  cross  be  in- 
tended in  this  passage,  we  have,  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  the 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORD's  SUPPER.       281 

communion  of  tilings  ahsent.  And  so  we  actually  have,  let 
this  passage  mean  what  it  may.  That  flesh  and  blood,  so 
offered,  were  the  very  sacrifice  for  sin,  through  which,  by 
faith,  we  are  pardoned  and  saved ;  and  with  them,  in  the 
character  of  that  sacrifice,  we  are  unquestionably  concerned 
in  the  mystery  of  the  Supper.  But,  then,  it  is  with  them  as 
ahsent,  and  not  with  them  as  present,  things.  They  can  not 
be  present,  in  any  other  sense  than  that  of  being  present 
by  their  representatives. 

As  to  the  latter  of  the  questions,  "  How  are  the  bread  and 
cup  in  the  Lord's  Supper  the  communion  of  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ  ?"  I  remark,  that  the  interpretation  which 
renders  the  original  of  the  word  "  communion^''  into  the  simi- 
larly sounding,  but  not  similarly  significant  term,  "  communi- 
cation," appears  to  be  wholly  unfounded.  Koivwvia  means 
fellowship,  partnership,  common  sharing  of  somewhat  among 
several  persons.  It  expresses  the  passive  condition  of  au 
object,  which  is  shared  in  common  by  a  plurality  of  individu- 
als— not  the  active  sense  of  cammmiicating  that  object  to  them. 
It  means,  "  possessing,  or  enjoying,  in  com7no7i" — not  impart- 
ation,  or  conveyance.  Understood  in  this,  its  right  sense, 
there  is  no  difficulty  in  the  passage.  True  Christians,  at 
the  Lord's  Supper,  have  fellowship,  or  a  common  share,  in 
the  very  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  as  they  were  actually 
offered  on  the  cross,  a  sacrifice  for  sin.  But  they  have 
this  fellowship,  this  common  share,  in  them  as  necessarily 
ahsent  things  ;  or  as  things  present  only  by  their  divinely- 
ordained  representatives.  And  the  medium  by  which  they 
hold  this  fellowship  of  interest  in  the  ahsent  body  and  blood 
of  their  crucified  Lord,  is,  as  our  Church  defines  it,  faith. 
"Faith,"  here  as  elsewhere,  "is  the  substance  of  things 
hoped  for,  and  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen."  Looking 
at  its  ordained  symbols,  faith  makes  the  very  sacrifice  on 
the  cross  appear  present ;  and  enables  the  Christian  to  re- 
alize his  interest  in  that  sacrifice,  as  effectually  as  though 
A  A  2 


282  THE    NATURE    OF    THE    LORd's   SUPPER. 

he  had  been  on  Calvary,  when  the  cry  sounded  "  7i(  is  fin- 
ished ;"  and  as  though  he  had  then  laid  a  believing  hand  on 
the  very  head  of  his  accepted  substitute. 

A  company  of  men  may  have  fellowship,  a  joint  and  common 
right,  in  an  absent  estate,  though  it  be  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  globe,  and  no  one  of  them  have  ever  seen  it;  and 
w^hen  the  sure  and  stated  income  reaches  them,  they  are  as 
well  satisfied  as  though  the  estate  itself  lay  at  their  very 
doors,  or  as  though  its  value  were  counted  and  deposited  in 
their  hands.  The  title  deed  by  which  they  hold  it  is  in 
their  possession,  and  it  is  good ;  no  one  can  dispossess  them 
of  it,  and  it  is  to  them  the  visible  evidence  and  representative 
of  the  absent  treasure  which  they  hold,  and  enjoy  in  com- 
mon. 

Thus,  the  great  company  of  faithful  Christians  have  jTe/- 
loioship,  a  joint  and  common  interest,  in  the  absent  body  and 
blood  of  Christ,  as  actually  offered  in  sacrifice  for  their  sins 
upon  the  cross.  With  the  Divine  revenue  of  holy  comfort, 
hope,  and  strength,  which  infallibly  reaches  them  from 
their  unseen  treasury  of  blessings,  they  are  sweetly  satis- 
fied. The  covenant,  by  which  they  hold  and  enjoy  their 
common  interest  in  it,  is  in  their  actual  possession.  The 
great  seal  of  that  covenant,  in  the  consecrated  symbols  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  is  often  exhibited  to  their  eyes.  And 
from  this  visible  evidence,  this  sensible  assurance,  that 
their  title  is  good,  that  "  He  is  faithful  who  hath  promised," 
their  faith  gathers  its  richest  income  of  present  and  of  satis- 
fying benefits.  Thus  is  it  that  "  the  cup  of  blessing  which 
we  bless,  and  the  bread  which  we  break,  are  to  them  the 
communion  of  the  very  body  and  blood  of  Christ ;"  of  the 
very  sacrifice  which  was  offered  for  their  sins  on  the  cross. 

The  idea  which  1  have  now  presented  of  communion  or 
felloioship  in  the  benefits  of  Christ's  sacrifice,  as  represent- 
ed at  the  Lord's  Table,  is,  I  think,  sustained  by  what  fol- 
lows the  words  which  have  been  explained. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORD  S  SUPPER.      283 

The  apostle  having  said  that  the  elements  in  the  Supper 
are  the  communion  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  adds, 
"  For  we,  being  many,  are  one  bread,  one  body  :  for  we  are 
all  partakers  of  that  one  bread."  That  is,  "  in  this  com- 
munion, we,  though  many,  are  yet  united  into  one  fellowship, 
the  mystical  body  of  Christ ;  a  union  and  fellowship  repre- 
sented by  the  one  bread,  of  which  we  are  all  partakers." 
"  Behold  Israel  after  the  jiesh ;  are  not  they  which  eat  of 
the  sacrifices  partakers  (^Koivovot)  of  the  altar  ?"  "  Have 
they  not  a  fellowship,  not  literally  in  the  altar  itself  but  in 
that  which  the  altar  furnishes  /"  So,  also,  in  applying  the 
argument,  might  it  be  said,  "  Behold  Israel  after  the  Spirit; 
the  great  company  of  faithful  Christians  ;  are  hot  they  who 
eat  and  drink  the  consecrated  elements  partakers  (^koivcovoc) 
of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  ?  Have  they  not  a  fellow- 
ship, not  literally  in  the  very  body  and  blood  which  were 
offered  in  sacrifice  for  sin,  but  in  what  the  sacrifice  of  that 
body  and  blood  supplies — pardon  and  peace  through  faith, 
present  adoption  and  eternal  life  ?"  Or  take  the  case  of  the 
heathen  :  "  What  say  I  of  this  ?  That  the  idol  is  any  thing, 
or  that  which  is  offered  in  sacrifice  to  idols  is  any  thing  ? 
No ;  but  that  the  things  which  the  Gentiles  sacrifice,  they 
sacrifice  to  devils,  and  not  to  God ;  and  I  would  not  that  ye 
should  have  felloioship  (KOivcdvovg  ytveadai)  with  devils. 
Ye  can  not  drink  the  cup  of  the  Lord  and  the  cup  of 
devils.  Ye  can  not  be  partakers  of  the  Lord's  Table  and 
of  the  table  of  devils."  That  is,  "  fellowship  with  Christ, 
and  fellowship  with  devils,  in  the  sacred  rites  performed  to 
each,  are  utterly  incompatible  things  ;  and  partaking,  not  lit- 
erally of  the  tables  themselves,  but  of  what  is  present  on  the 
tables  of  both,  is  an  impious  profanation  of  Christ's  ordi- 
nance." 

It  is  observable  in  the  language  which  I  have  thus  para- 
phrased, that,  when  the  word  icotvoivoi  comes  to  be  joined 
with  devils,  our  translation  renders  it,  not  partakers,  but  "/«/- 


284      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORD  S  SUPPER. 

lowship."  Fellowship  with  devils  is  an  intelligible  idea  , 
but  partakers  of  devils,  if  intelligible,  is  also  absurd.  The 
term  should  have  had  the  rendering  of  '^fellowship"  through- 
out the  passage,  as  more  faithful  to  the  true  sense.  Men 
may  have  "fellowship  with  devils,"  but  can  not  be  "parta- 
kers q/"  devils."  So  the  Jews  had  fellowship  in  the  henefits 
of  the  altar,  but  could  not  be  partakers  of  the  altar  itself. 
In  like  manner,  faithful  Christians  have  fellowship  together 
in  the  henefits  of  Christ's  death  and  passion,  but  can  not  be 
partakers  of  the  very  body  and  blood  which  were  offered  in 
sacrifice  for  their  sins.* 

This  passage,  then,  in  the  writings  of  St.  Paul,  does  not 
sustain  that  view  of  the  Lord's  Supper  which  I  have  pre- 
sented. It  is  only  by  the  usual  way  of  assuming  a  meaning 
for  it  that  it  can  be  forced  to  speak  the  language  of  that 
view.  The  passage,  interpreted,  speaks  the  language  of  the 
only  sound  theology  on  this  subject. 

3.  I  come  now  to  an  examination  of  that  important  Script- 
ure, the  instituting  words  of  Christ ;  for  really  this  is  the 
only  remaining  passage  which  it  will  be  necessary  to  exam- 
ine. There  are,  it  is  true,  other  passages  in  the  New  Test- 
ament which  relate  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  but  they  are 
merely  incidental  allusions  to  it,  or  to  the  naked  fact  of  its 
administration,  and  contain  nothing  which  can  help  us  to  an 
understanding  of  its  nature.  Thus,  in  one  place,  the  ordi- 
nance is  spoken  of  as  a  "  coming  together  to  Ireak  bread" 
(Acts,  XX.,  7)  ;  and  in  another,  as  "  eating  the  Lord's  Sup- 

*  Kotvavol  tZv  Sainovitav  ylvtaBai  really  ought  to  be  rendered  "  to  be  par- 
takers of  devils,"  if  Koiviavla  Tov  adiixaroi,  Kai  tov  cujxaTOi  too  Xpiarov  is  to  be 
translated,  on  Dr.  Pusey's  principle,  "a  participation  of  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ."  The  truth  is,  that  the  proper  rendering  of  each  is  as  I  have 
paraphrased  them.  The  former  means,  "  to  be  the  fellows  of  devils,"  or,  as 
•)ur  translation  renders  it,  "  to  have  fellowship  with  them  ;"  while  the  latter 
means,  "  the  fellowship  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ."  The  fonner  is  that 
fellcnvship  in  which  the  wicked  are  influenced  and  governed  by  the  devil ; 
the  latter  is  ihaX  fellowship  in  which  Christians  are  influenced  and  benefit- 
ed by  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ. 


THE    NATURE    OF    THE   LORd's   SUPPER.  285 

fer'''  (1  Cor.,  xi.,  20) ;  the  latter  phrase  corresponding  with 
that  noticed  a  few  moments  since,  of  being  "  partakers  of 
the  Lord's  Table."— \  Cor.,  x.,  21.  Upon  such  expressions, 
therefore,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  pause.  The  nature  of 
this  ordinance  must  be  learned  mainly  from  the  words  of 
Christ,  in  which  it  was  instituted.  To  these  words,  then, 
let  us  now,  with  all  earnestness,  attend. 

The  writers  who  give  the  instituting  words  are  the  evan- 
gelists, Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke,  and  the  Apostle  Paul ; 
to  this  last  of  whom  they  were  specially  revealed.  As  giv- 
en by  these  writers,  they  are  substantially  the  same.  St. 
Matthew,  indeed,  is  the  only  one  who,  in  connection  with 
the  giving  of  the  cup,  records  the  expression  concerning  the 
blood  ;  that  it  was  "shed  for  many  ^br  the  remission  of  sins." 
But  the  idea  here  expressed  is  implied  in  what  the  others 
record  in  common  with  him,  in  these  words  :  "  Blood  of  the 
New  Testament,"  and  "  the  New  Testament  in  ray  blood  ;" 
since  this  New  Testament,  or,  rather,  New  Covenant  {Sia- 
6rjK7]g),  includes  the  promise  of  re?ni.'ision  of  sins.  It  is  also 
true,  that  St.  Paul  is  the  only  one  who  records  the  impor- 
tant expression,  "  This  do  in  remembrance  of  me,"  in  con- 
nection with  the  giving  both  of  the  bread  and  of  the  cup. 
St.  Luke  records  it  only  in  connection  with  the  giving  of 
the  bread,  while  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark  omit  it  altogeth- 
er. But,  then,  its  record  by  two  out  of  the  four,  to  one  of 
whom  it  was  specially  revealed,  is  enough  to  assure  us  that 
it  formed  a  part  of  Christ's  words  at  the  insthution,  and  that 
it  is  essential  to  a  right  understanding  of  the  nature  of  the 
ordinance.  So  the  first  two  evangelists  record  what  St. 
Luke  and  St.  Paul  omit,  the  "giving  of  thanks"  after  Christ 
had  taken  the  cup ;  while,  in  like  manner,  the  latter  two  re- 
cord what  the  former  two  omit,  the  "giving  of  thanks"  after 
He  had  taken  the  bread  ;  or,  rather,  the  former  two  say  that 
"  He  took  bread  and  blessed  it,"  instead  of  saying  that  "  He 
took  it  and  gave  thanks."     But  the  same  remark  applies  to 


286      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

this  as  to  the  last  case.  It  is  enough  that  any  one  of  them 
records  an  expression  which  the  others  omit.  It  shows  that 
the  expression  was  used  at  the  institution.  Once  more  : 
St.  Matthew  alone  records  the  valuable  words  in  connection 
with  the  cup,  "  Drink  ye  all  of  this.'"  St.  Mark  merely  says, 
"  They  all  drank  of  it ,-"  while  St.  Luke  and  St.  Paul  whol- 
ly omit  the  expression.  But,  then,  the  comment  in  St. 
Mark  implies  the  command  in  St.  Matthew,  while  the  omis- 
sion of  it  by  the  other  two  is  no  contradiction.  Again  :  the 
first  two  evangelists  use  the  words,  "  This  is  my  blood  of  the 
New  Testament,"  while  St.  Luke  and  St.  Paul  say,  "  this  cup 
is  the  New  Testament  in  my  blood."  And  yet  these  are 
but  slightly  varying  expressions  of  the  same  general  idea. 
And,  finally,  St.  Paul  says,  "  This  is  my  body  which  is  bro- 
ken  for  you,"  while  St.  Luke  says,  "  This  is  my  body  which 
is  given  for  you."  This  difference,  however,  is  immaterial, 
as  is  also  the  fact  that  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark  record 
the  circumstance,  that  Christ,  having  taken  the  bread  and 
the  cup,  "gave  them  to  the  disciples,^''  while  St.  Luke  records 
it  only  of  the  bread,  and  St.  Paul  omits  it  altogether.  It  is 
sufficient  that  the  main  words  in  the  form  of  institution  are 
the  same  in  all ;  and  that,  by  comparing  the  four  records, 
we  doubtless  obtain  the  whole  of  that  important  language  of 
Christ  on  which  is  based  the  authority,  and  from  which  must 
be  deduced  the  nature  of  this  precious  ordinance.  This 
work  of  comparison  has  been  partly  done  by  the  framers  of 
our  Communion  Service.  They  evidently  took,  for  the  ba- 
sis of  our  form  of  consecration,  the  words  of  Christ  as  spe- 
cially revealed  to  the  Apostle  Paul,  incorporating  and  har- 
monizing with  them  such  expressions  as  are  peculiar  to  one 
or  more  of  the  three  evangelists.  As  more  fully  harmoni- 
zed, the  whole  form  of  institution  and  consecration  stands 
thus  : 

"  The  Lord  Jesus,  the  same  night  in  which  He  was  be- 
trayed, took  bread,  and  when  He  had  given  thanks,  or  bless- 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      287 

ed,  He  brake  it,  and  gave  it  to  His  disciples,  saying,  Take, 
eat ;  this  is  my  body,  which  is  give7i  and  broken  for  you  ; 
do  this  in  remembrance  of  me.  After  the  same  manner, 
also,  He  took  the  cup,  when  He  had  supped  ;  and  when  He 
had  given  thanks,  He  gave  it  to  them,  saying.  Drink  ye  all  oj 
this  {and  they  all  drank  of  it) ;  for  this  is  my  blood  of  the 
New  Testament;  this  cup  is  the  New  Testament  in  my 
blood,  which  is  shed  for  you  and  for  many  for  the  remission 
q/"sins.  Do  this,  as  oft  as  ye  drink  it,  in  remembrance  of 
me." 

The  words  in  italics  show  what  is  taken  from  the  evan- 
gelists, because  not  recorded  by  St.  Paul ;  while  the  be- 
ginning, the  close,  and  the  general  order  of  the  form  evince 
that  the  framers  of  our  service  adopted  the  words  of  St. 
Paul,  rather  than  those  of  the  evangelists,  as  the  basis  of 
the  form. 

It  is  not  my  purpose,  at  this  stage  of  the  discussion,  to 
examine  all  the  parts  of  this  form  of  institution  and  conse- 
cration. This  purpose  confines  me,  for  the  present,  to  the 
meaning  of  the  words  "  This  is  my  body,'''  and  "  This  is  my 
blood,"  since  upon  that  meaning  the  whole  controversy  con- 
cerning the  nature  of  this  ordinance  turns. 

From  what  has  already  been  said,  we  can  very  easily 
anticipate  the  meaning  put  upon  these  instituting  words  by 
the  advocates  of  that  theory  of  the  Lord's  Supper  which  I 
have  exhibited.  The  notion,  that  the  very  body  and  blood 
of  Christ  must,  some  how,  be  received  into  the  body  and 
soul  of  the  Christian  in  order  to  their  joint  immortal  life  in 
blessedness,  having,  in  the  growingly  impure  ages  of  the 
Church,  obtained  possession  of  men's  minds,  and  this  no- 
tion having  found  the  shadow  of  a  cover  in  that  strongly- 
figurative  language  from  the  sixth  chapter  of  John,  which  I 
have  examined,  it  was,  of  course,  brought  forward  from  that 
chapter,  and  applied  to  the  interpretation  of  the  instituting 
words  themselves.      Hence  it  was  argued,  that  when,  on 


288      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

the  eve  of  His  crucifixion,  Christ  took  bread,  and  blessed, 
and  brake,  and  gave  it  to  the  disciples,  saying,  "  Take,  eat ; 
this  is  my  body ;"  and  when,  on  the  same  occasion,  He  took 
the  cup,  gave  thanks,  and  gave  it  to  them,  saying,  "  Drink  ye 
all  of  this,  for  this  is  nty  htood  of  the  New  Testament,"  He 
must  be  understood  as  saying  that,  by  the  iniraculous  energy 
of  His  blessing  and  giving  of  thanks,  the  bread  and  the  wine 
which  He  held  in  His  hands  became  indeed,  not  only  the 
ordained  signs  and  symbols  of  His  body  and  His  blood,  but 
also  His  very  body  and  blood  themselves.  This  was  con- 
sidered necessary  to  make  His  words  true ;  and  to  deny 
this  was  then,  as  now,  by  the  advocates  of  the  theory,  ac- 
counted daring  presumption,  deserving  excommunication 
from  the  Church.* 

Now,  that  our  blessed  Savior  spake  truth  when  He  said, 
"  This  is  my  body,  this  is  my  blood,"  and  that  he  who 
charges  the  Divine  Teacher  with  falsehood  in  these  words 
is  deserving  of  excommunication,  can  not  be  denied  by  any 
one  who  believes  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  But  the  real 
question  here  is,  not  whether  Christ  spake  truth  in  those 
words,  but  what  is  the  truth  which  His  words  convey  ? 
The  true  meaning  of  His  words  must  be  received  by  every 
Christian  ;  and  yet,  not  the  less  necessarily,  must  a  false 
meaning  of  them  be  rejected.  What,  then,  is  the  true  mean- 
ing of  the  words,  "  This  is  my  body,  this  is  my  blood  V 

*  "Those  words  which  our  blessed  Savior  used  in  the  institution  of 
the  blessed  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist,  '  This  is  my  body,  which  is  given 
for  you ;  this  is  my  blood,  which  is  shed  for  you,  for  the  remission  of  sins,' 
are  held  and  acknowledged  by  the  Universal  Church  to  be  most  true  and 
infallible ;  and  if  any  one  dares  oppose  them,  or  call  in  question  Christ's 
veracity,  or  the  truth  of  His  words,  or  refuse  to  yield  his  sincere  assent  to 
them,  except  he  be  allowed  to  make  a  mere  figment,  or  a  bare  figure  of 
them,  we  can  not  and  ought  not  either  excuse  or  suffer  him  in  our  churches  ;  for 
we  must  embrace  and  hold,  for  an  undoubted  truth,  whatever  is  taught  by 
Divine  Scripture."—  Tracts,  vol.  i.,  p.  190,  N.  Y.,  quoted  from  Cosin,  Bishop 
of  Durham. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      289 

The  right  answer  to  this  question  settles  the  whole  contro- 
versy. 

1.  In  seeking  this  right  answer,  I  observe,  first,  the  no- 
tion of  this  sacrament  against  which  I  am  reasoning,  is,  so 
far  as  it  is  drawn  from  the  present  text,  based  on  the  as- 
sumption that  the  words  of  Christ,  "  Take,  eat,"  and  '*  Drink 
ye  all  of  this,"  refer,  not  back  in  the  sentence  to  the  bread 
and  the  wine,  which  He  had  just  taken  up,  but  forward  to 
His  body  and  His  blood,  which  He  was  about  to  name.  It 
is  a  notion  which  really  requires  us  to  paraphrase  the  text 
thus ;  "  And  as  they  were  eating,  Jesus  took  bread,  and 
blessed,  and  brake,  and  gave  it  to  His  disciples,  saying, 
*  Take,  eat  my  true  and  real  body ;  this  which  I  hold  in 
my  hands  has,  by  the  marvelous  power  of  my  blessing,  be- 
come that  body.'  Then,  also.  He  took  the  cup,  and  gave 
thanks,  and  gave  it  to  them,  saying,  '  Drink  ye  all  of  my 
true  and  real  blood ;  this  which  1  hold  in  the  cup  has.  by 
the  mysterious  energy  of  my  thanksgiving,  become  that 
blood  ;'  "*  a  paraphrase  which  needs  but  to  be  expressed  in 

*  Even  Calvin  retained  something  of  this  notion,  as  is  shown  by  Cosin, 
ia  his  treatise.  The  following  is  part  of  the  quotation  which  this  author 
makes  from  Calvin's  writings  ;  Christ  "  declares  that  His  flesh  is  the  food 
and  His  blood  the  drink  of  my  soul,  and  my  soul  I  offer  to  Him  to  be  fed  by 
such  nourishment.  He  bids  me  take,  eat,  and  drink  His  b»dy  and  blood, 
which  in  His  holy  Supper  He  offers  me  under  the  symbols  of  bread  and 
wine ;  I  make  no  scruple  but  He  doth  reach  them  to  me,  and  I  receive 
them."  Again,  "  Except  one  presumes  to  call  God  a  deceiver,  he  will 
never  dare  to  say  that  the  symbols  are  empty,  and  that  Christ  is  not  in 
them."  Again,  "  We  most  firmly  believe  that,  receiving  the  signs  of  the 
body,  we  also  certainly  receive  the  body  itself."  Again,  "  The  Son  of  God 
offers  daily  to  us,  in  the  holy  sacrament,  the  same  body  which  He  once  of- 
fered in  sacrifice  to  His  Father."  —  Tracts,  vol.  i.,  p.  196, 197 ;  Cosin's  quo- 
tations from  Calvin. 

The  above  language  is,  indeed,  susceptible  of  a  Protestant  explanation ; 
and  yet,  like  some  expressions  in  our  "  Homily  of  the  worthy  receiving  and 
reverent  esteeming  of  the  sacrament  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ,"  it 
shows  how  deeply  the  minds  of  the  Reformers  had  become  imbued  with 
the  language  on  this  subject  of  an  earlier  and  an  impure  age,  even  though 
they  rejected  the  erroneous  meaning  of  that  language. 

Bb 


THE   RATXTEE   OF   TIIE   LOEIi>  S   SUFTEK, 

words  ta  be  at  once  rejected^  inasmuch  as  it  involves  tbe 
plain  impossibility  that  tbe  yet  uncrucifted  Jesiia  actaally 
held  in  His  hands  the  body  from  which  He  was  speaking, 
and  the  blood  which  was  then  coursing  through  His  veins  I 
2.  But,  secondly^  I  observe  tltat  this  view  of  the  sacra- 
ment  rests  on  another  assun^ption :  that  the  substantive  verb, 
"  J<S,"  in  the  text,  Ims  and  can  have  no  other  force  than  thaS 
of  its  proper  and  literal  signification  f  that  it  nteans,  and 
must  mean,  simply  and  lileraUyj  "  /&."  I>et  us  see  whether 
this  assumption  have  any  ground  of  support. 

It  must  be  remembered,  then,  that,  in  tbe  time  of  our 
Savior,  the  spoken  language  of  Judea,  in  which  He  and  His 
disciples  conversed^  was  not  the  Greek,  in  which  the  evan- 
gelists have  xcrrilten  His  history  and  His  discourses,  bvU  the 
Syro-Chaldaic,  or  Hebrreo-Aramean,  as  the  then  currens 
dialect  of  the  ancient  Hebrew  to7igue.  Besides  other  his^ 
toric  evidence,  we  have  that  of  the  New  Testament  itself 
to  the  fact  here  noticed.  Hence,  when  Jesus  met  the  per- 
secuting Paul  on  his  way  to  Damascus,  the  latter  "  heard 
3  voice  speaking  unto  him,  and  sayings  in  i]i€  Hehrexe  tongue f 
Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  me  •"  &c, — -Acts,  xxvi., 
14.  And  hence,  when  Paul  would  address  and  calm  the 
excited  multitude  of  his  countrymen  in  Jerusalem,  from 
whose  murderous  hands  the  chief  captain  had  just  rescued 
him,  he  stood  on  the  steps  of  the  Castle  of  Antonia,  and 
spake  to  them,  not  as  the  chief  captain  expected  he  would, 
in  "Greek"  but  "in  the  Hebrew  tongue^  "And  when 
they  heard  that  be  spake  in  the  Hebrew  tongue  to  them, 
they  kept  the  more  silence,"  while,  in  their  own  familiar 
speech,  he  proceeded  to  tell  the  wonderful  story  of  his  own 
conversion. — Acts,  xxi,  30-40;  xxii.,  1-21. 

Now  it  is  well  known  that  the  Hebrews,  and  those  neigh- 
bor nations  whose  languages  were  cognate  with  their  own, 
although  they  had  verbs  expressive  oi  something  like  the 
sense  of  our  words,  to  signify,  to  mean,  to  denote,  to  repre- 


THE    NATURE    OF   THE    LORDS    SUPPER.  291 

sent,  to  typify,  to  symbolize,  yet  rarely  used  them  in  discourse. 
When  they  wished  to  say  that  one  thing  signified  or  repre- 
sented another,  they  customarily  said  the  one  was  the  other  ; 
and,  in  saying  so,  they  were  not  liable  to  be  misapprehend- 
ed. Their  intended  meaning  was  perfectly  well  under- 
stood. 

So  deeply  rooted  in  the  genius  of  these  languages  was 
the  idiom  to  which  I  refer,  that  I  am  not  aware  of  the  oc- 
currence, in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  of  any  one  verb  which 
has  the  sense  of  our  words  to  signify,  to  represent,  and 
their  various  synonyms.  The  noun,  "  sign,"  and  its  plural, 
"  signs,"  are  of  frequent  occurrence,  carrying  the  sense  of 
miracle,  prodigy,  index,  military  standard  ;  but  it  has  no  cor- 
responding verl>,  and,  if  it  had,  that  verb  would  be  of  no 
avail  in  the  present  inquiry.  There  is,  indeed,  one  verb  in 
our  English  translation  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  which,  if 
it  had  any  correspondent  in  the  original,  would  be  of  some 
importance  here.  It  occurs  in  the  following  passages  : 
"What  mean  these  seven  ewe  lambs?" — Gen.,  xxi.,  29. 
"  What  mean  ye  by  this  service  ?" — Ex.,  xii.,  20.  "  What 
mean  the  testimonies"  — "  which  the  Lord  our  God  hath 
commanded  you?" — Deut.,  vi.,  20.  "What  mean  ye  by 
these  stones?"  —  Josh.,  iv.,  6.  "What  mean  ye  that  ye 
beat  my  people  to  pieces  ?" — Isa.,  iii.,  15.  "Know  ye  not 
what  these  things  mean  V — Ezek.,  xvii.,  12.  "  What  mean 
ye  that  ye  use  this  proverb  ?" — Ezek.,  xviii.,  2.  That  is. 
What  do  all  these  things  signify,  or  represent  ?  It  happens, 
however,  as  any  one  who  reads  his  Hebrew  Bible  will  see, 
that  in  the  original  there  is  no  word  corresponding  with  our 
English  word  mean,  in  the  translation.  There  is  an  ellip- 
sis ;  and  the  questions  in  Hebrew  run  thus  :  "  What  —  these 
seven  ewe  lambs  ?"  "  What  —  this  service  to  you  ?"  and 
so  of  the  others  ;  and  there  can,  I  presume,  be  no  doubt, 
that  if  an  Israelite  were  to  supply  the  ellipsis  in  all  such 
cases,  he  would  do  so  by  simply  inserting  the  substantive 


292      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

verb  are,  or  is ;  so  that  the  questions  written  in  full  would 
read,  "  What  are  these  seven  ewe  lambs  V  "  What  is 
this  service  to  you  ?"  and  the  like.*  The  truth  i§,  as  I 
have  said,  the  Hebrews  and  their  cognates  in  language  were 
not  accustomed  to  use  any  verb  in  expressing  the  idea  to 
signify,  to  represent,  to  symholize.  Ordinarily,  in  expressing 
the  typical,  or  representative  relation,  they  either  used  the 
substantive  verb  which  means  "  to  ie,"  or,  more  frequently, 
made  an  ellipsis,  which  any  Hebraeist  would  supply  by  in- 
serting that  verb.  Thus,  when  Moses  would  express  the 
idea  that  the  ancient  Paschal  Lamb  signijied,  or  represented 
the  Lord's  Passover,  he  says,  "  It  is  the  Lord's  Passover." 
— Exod.,  xii.,  11. 

To  show  that  this  sense  of  the  Hebrew  verb  "  to  be"  is 
not  got  up  to  sustain  a  theory,  and  to  avoid  a  difBculty,  I 
give  a  few  of  the  numerous  passages  in  which  it  occurs. 
When  Joseph  was  interpreting  the  dreams  of  Pharaoh,  he 
said,  "  The  seven  good  kine  are  seven  years  :  and  the 
seven  empty  ears  shall  be  seven  years  of  famine." — Gen., 
xli.,  26-27.  So,  when  one  of  the  heavenly  ones  was  ex- 
plaining to  Daniel  the  vision  with  which  the  prophet  had 
been  favored,  he  said,  "  These  great  beasts,  which  are  four, 
are  four  kings."  "  The  fourth  beast  shall  be  the  fourth  king- 
dom." "  And  the  ten  horns  out  of  this  kingdom  are  ten 
kings." — Dan.,  vii.,  17,  23,  24.     So,  also,  when  Joseph  was 

*■  In  two  passages,  the  Hebrew,  "ijjX'  "  dixit,'"  "he  said,"  is  rendered,  in 
its  plural  form,  as  though  it  had  the  force  of  our  verb  intend,  or  mean. 
Vide  Josh.,  xxii.,  .S3;  2  Chron.,  xxviii.,  13.  But  I  see  no  necessity  for  de- 
parting from  the  usual  sense  of  the  word  in  those  places.  Thus,  Josh., 
xxii.,  33,  may  be  rendered,  "The  children  of  Israel  blessed  God,  and  spake 
not  to  go  up  against  them  in  battle."  So,  also,  2  Chron.,  xxviii.,  13,  may 
be  rendered,  "  Ye  are  speaking  to  add  to  our  sins."  "  What  ye  propose  to 
do  with  the  captives  would  greatly  aggravate  our  guilt."  Even,  however, 
if  the  primitive  sense  of  "^j^j^  were,  "  he  intended,"  "  meant,"  or  "  designed," 
instead  of  "  he  spake,"  or  "said,"  it  would  not  be  the  sense  required  in  ex- 
pressing the  idea  of  one  thing's  signifying,  representing,  or  symbolizing  an- 
other. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      293 

interpreting  the  dreams  of  the  butler  and  the  baker  of  King 
Pharaoh,  and  when  Daniel  was  interpreting  the  various 
mysteries  which  were  proposed  to  him,  their  language 
abounded  in  similar  forms  of  expression. — Gen.,  xl.,  12, 
and  18;  and  the  Book  of  Daniel,  ii.,  37,  38  ;  iv.,  20-22; 
viii.,  20,  21.  In  two  of  the  passages  which  I  have  recited, 
Gen.,  xli.,  27,  and  Dan.,  vii.,  23,  the  substantive  verb  is 
expressed ;  in  the  others  it  is  omitted ;  as  is  the  case  in  the 
language  of  Moses,  when  he  says  of  the  lamb,  "  It  is  the 
Lord's  Passover."  In  none  of  the  cases,  however,  would 
any  Hebraeist  think  of  supplying  the  ellipsis  with  any  other 
than  the  substantive  verb. 

This  same  peculiarity  of  the  Hebrew  language  manifests 
itself  very  strongly  in  the  influence  which  it  had  over  the 
idioms  of  that  peculiar  form  of  the  Greek  in  which  the  in- 
spired penmen  of  the  Neto  Testament  wrote,  and  which,  by 
vv^ay  of  distinction,  is  sometimes  called  Hebrew-Greek ;  be- 
cause the  writers,  being  mostly  Jews,  although  they  wrote 
in  Greek  words,  yet  instinctively  abounded  in  Hebrew  idi- 
oms. The  instances  in  which  this  influence  of  the  Hebrew 
of  the  Old  over  the  Greek  of  the  New  Testament  manifests 
itself,  in  the  use  of  the  substantive  verb  to  express  the  idea 
of  signifying,  representing,  &c.,  are  numerous.  I  add  some 
of  the  more  prominent,  as  illustrations  of  the  remark. 

When  Christ  was  explaining  "  the  parable  of  the  tares  of 
the  field,"  he  said  to  His  disciples,  "  The  field  is  the  world  ; 
the  good  seed  are  the  children  of  the  kingdom  ;  but  the 
tares  are  the  children  of  the  wicked  one  :  the  enemy  that 
sowed  them  is  the  devil ;  the  harvest  is  the  end  of  the 
world,  and  the  reapers  are  the  angels." — Matt.,  xiii.,  38-39. 
Again :  when  St.  Paul  was  explaining  the  miracle  by  which 
Moses  gave  the  people  water  from  the  rock  in  the  wilder- 
ness, he  said,  "  They  drank  of  that  spiritual  Rock  that  fol- 
lowed them,  and  that  Rock  was  Christ." — 1  Cor.,  x.,  4. 
And,  finally,  when  Christ  himself,  in  the  sublime  visions  of 
B  b2 


294  THE    NATURE    OF   THE    LORD  S    SUPPER. 

the  Apocalypse,  was  explaining  the  mystery  which  had 
been  exhibited  to  the  beloved  disciple,  He  said,  "The 
seven  stars  are  the  angels  of  the  seven  Churches,  and 
the  seven  candlesticks  are  the  seven  Churches." — Rev., 
i.,  20. 

These  references,  both  to  the  Old  and  to  the  New 
Testament,  in  illustration  of  the  idiom  in  question, 
might  be  made  more  full  and  complete ;  but  they  have 
already  extended  far  enough  to  show  both  the  nature 
and  the  strength  of  the  argument  which  they  furnish, 
and  by  which  the  meaning  of  Christ  in  the  instituting 
words  before  us  is  demonstrated.  In  all  the  references 
which  I  have  made,  the  substantive  verb  clearly  has  the 
sense  of  signifying^  representing,  or  symbolizing  ;  and  no 
Hebrew  who  reads  them  would  ever  think  of  under- 
standing them  in  any  other  sense.  To  take  a  few  of 
the  instances  as  examples,  their  true  English  would  run 
thus  :  "  The  seven  good  kine  represent  seven  years,  and 
the  seven  empty  ears  represent  seven  years  of  famine." 
"  The  fourth  beast  represents  the  fourth  kingdom." 
"  The  field  represents  the  world,  and  the  reapers  repre- 
sent the  angels."  "  This  Lamb  symbolizes  the  act  of  the 
Lord's  Passover."  "  They  drank  of  the  spiritual  Rock 
that  followed  them;  and  that  Rock  typified.,  or  symboli- 
cally represented  Christ." 

But,  if  this  be  the  true  and  unquestionable  force  of 
these,  and  the  numerous  similar  expressions  which  are 
scattered  so  profusely  through  the  Hebrew  and  the  He- 
hiew-Greek  Scriptures,  and  which  open  to  us  one  of  the 
most  deeply-rooted  idioms  of  Oriental  speech,  by  what 
law,  I  pray,  is  it  that  we,  or  any  other  interpreters,  may 
set  ourselves  at  work  to  show  that,  in  the  instituting 
words,  which  are  a  perfectly  analogous  idiomatic  ex- 
pression, our  Savior  dropped  the  forms  of  His  own  na- 
tive tongue  and  assumed  that  literal  meaning  of  the 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      295 

verb  "  IS,"  which  obliges  us  to  maintaia  that  He  was 
then  working  the  imjMssihh  miradt  of  holding  in  his 
hands  not  only  the  ordidned  symbols  of  His  body  and 
blood,  but  also  His  i>ery  body  ami  blood  themselves  ?  Why 
resort  to  such  a  straining  and  violent  force  upon  lan- 
guage, when  the  customary  sense  of  the  words  is  so 
plain  and  so  satisfying  X 

The  paschal  lamb,  we  know,  was  one  of  the  great 
Old  Testament  types  of  Christ.     Hence  (I  Cor.,  v.,  7), 
St.  Paul  calls  Christ  '■'■  our    Passover^     So   the    rock 
ivhich  Moses  smote  in  the  wilderness  we  are  justified 
in  considering  a  remarkable  symbol  of  Christ,  the  Rock 
of  our  Salvation,  smittea  for  our  sins,  and  pouring  forth, 
the  reviving  waters,  the  never-failing  stream  of  eternal 
life- — 1  Cor.,  x.,  4-     And  it  would  have  been  just  as 
reasonable,  if  the  Jews  had  taken  the  words  of  Moses, 
"  This  is  the  Lord^s  Passover,"  and  argued  from  them 
that  the  Paschal  lamb  was  not  only  a  symbol  of  the 
Lord's  act  in  passing  over  their  dwellings  and  sparing 
their  first-born  at  the  sight  of  the  blood  sprinkled  on 
their  lintels,  but  also,  by  a  marvelous  transubstantiation, 
his  very  aa  itself  of  thus  passing  over  and  sparing  them  ; 
or,  it  would  be  just  as  admissible  if  we  should  now  take 
the  words  of  St.  Paul,  "  That  rock  was  Christ,"  and  ar- 
gue from  them  that  the  rock  which  Moses  smote  in  the 
wilderness  was  not  only  a  symbol  of  Christ,  but  also,  by 
some  mysterious  change,  nothing  less  than  Christ  him- 
self; as  it  is  to  take  the  instituting  words  before  us, 
"  This  is  my  body,  this  is  my  blood,"  and  argue  from 
them  that  the  bread  and  the  wine,  in  the  Lord's  Supper, 
are  not  only  the  divinely-constituted  symbols  or  represent' 
atives  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  as  offered  in  sac- 
rifice for  our  sins,  but  also,  by  some  mysterious  trans- 
formation, that  very  body  and  blood  themselves  !     To  say 
truth,  all  this  is  utter  force  on  the  natural  and  simple 


296      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORDS  SUPPER. 

meaning  of  these  instituting  words.  The  verb  "  is" 
here  has  not  its  primitive  and  literal,  but  its  derived  and 
idioinatic  meaning  ;  a  meaning  which  must  have  been 
perfectly  well  understood  when  the  Divine  Speaker  ut- 
tered it ;  and  the  true  sense  of  the  language  may,  with 
the  utmost  fidelity  to  its  spirit^  as  well  as  to  its  gram- 
mar, be  thus  expressed :  "  This  bread  and  this  wine 
represent  my  body  and  my  blood  ;"  "  I  hereby  constitute 
these  elements  significant  and  perpetual  symbols  of  that 
atoning  sacrifice  for  sin,  which  on  the  shameful  cross  I 
am  about  to  ofTer/'^ 

Having  thus  carefully  examined  these  instituting 
words  of  Christ,  and  having  formerly  given  such  a  par- 
aphrase of  them  as  is  required  by  that  view  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  which  I  am  opposing,  it  is  proper  now 
to  paraphrase  them  in  conformity  with  the  sense  which 
they  really  express.  Taking,  then,  the  whole  passage, 
as  I  have  harmonized  it  from  the  writings  of  the  evan- 
gelists and  of  St.  Paul,  it  may  be  thus  more  fully  set 
forth  : 

"  The  Lord  Jesus,  the  same  night  in  which  He  was 
betrayed,  took  bread,  and  when,  according  to  Paschal 
custom,  he  had  given  thanks,  or  pronounced  the  bless- 
ing over  it.  He  brake  it  and  gave  it  to  His  disciples, 
saying,  '  Take,  eat  this  bread.  TMs  represents  my 
body,'*  which,  as  the  Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of 
the  world,  is  already  given  and  broken  for  your  salva- 
tion. 'Do  this  yourselves,  and  enjoin  it  on  my  Church, 
as  a  perpetual  memorial  of  me,  and  of  my  sacrifice  for  the 
sins  of  the  world. ^  After  the  same  manner,  also,  He 
took  the  cup,  Avhen  he  had  supped  ;  and  when,  aceord- 
ino"  to  the  custom  of  the  feast,  he  had  given  thanks,  he 
gave  it  to  them,  saying, '  Brink  ye  all  of  this  cup''  (which 
they  all  accordingly  did),  '/or  this  represents  my  blood 
of  the  new  covenant ;  this  cup  is  the  symbol  and  seat  of 


THE  NATURK  OF  THE  LORD's  SUPPER.      297 

that  new  covenant,  which  hath  '■'■  force'''  through  the 
blood  already  virtually  shed  for  you  and  for  many,  for 
the  remission  of  sins.  Do  this  yourselves,  and  enjoin  it 
to  be  done  by  my  Church,  in  remembrance  ofme;^  for  a 
perpetual  memorial  of  my  atoning  death  and  sacrifice, 
wherever  and  whenever,  till  my  coming  again,  that 
death  and  sacrifice  shall  be  celebrated." 

Separated  from  the  body  of  the  paraphrase,  the  words 
which  have  been  more  particularly  examined  stand 
thus:  "Jesus  took  bread,  blessed,  brake,  and  gave  it  to 
his  disciples,  saying,  'Take,  eat  this  bread ;  this  repre- 
sents my  body,  which  is  given  for  you.'  He  took  also 
the  cup,  gave  thanks,  and  distributed  it  to  them,  say- 
ing, '  Drink  ye  all  of  this  cup  ;  for  this  represents  my 
blood,  which,  according  to  the  new  covenant,  is  shed 
for  the  remission  of  sins.'  "  This  paraphrase,  as  it  will 
be  seen,  makes  the  words,  "  Take,  eat,"  "  Drink  ye  all 
of  this,"  refer  back  in  the  sentence  to  the  bread  and  the 
cup  which  Christ  had  first  taken  into  his  hands,  and  not 
forward^  as  in  the  paraphrase  before  given,  to  the  body 
and  the  blood  which  He  was  about  to  name  ;  and  I  am 
now  willing  that  others  should  judge  for  themselves 
whether  the  former  paraphrase  or  the  latter  gives  the 
true  meaning  of  Christ  in  these  most  important  words. 

It  is  observable  that,  in  all  the  passages  which  I  have 
cited,  whether  from  the  Old  Testament  or  from  the 
New,  as  illustrative  of  the  idiomatic  character  of 
Christ's  instituting  words,  the  speakers  were  explaining 
something  significant.  I  add,  so,  evidently,  was  Christ, 
in  the  language  before  us.  In  breaking  and  blessing  the 
bread,  and  in  pouring  the  wine  into  the  cup  with  thanks, 
He  had  performed  most  deeply  significant  acts  ;  acts  Avhich 
He  intended  His  ministers  should  copy  to  the  end  of 
time.  These  acts,  therefore,  He  must  needs  explain,  to 
the  end  that  they  might  ever  be  rightly  understood  by 


298      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

the  unbiased  mind.  He  took  the  bread  and  brake  it. 
He  took  tlie  wine  and  poured  it  forth.  These  were  His 
momentously  significant  acts.  Their  explanation  imme- 
diately followed.  Of  the  bread  He  said,  "  This  is  my 
body  y"  and  of  the  wine^  "  This  is  my  blood  f  using  a  cus- 
tomary idiom  of  their  native  tongue  which  His  disci- 
ples doubtless  perfectly  well  understood  to  mean,  "  This 
represents  my  body  ;  this  represents  my  blood."  Hence, 
in  speaking  of  the  Supper  themselves,  before  superstition 
had  crept  into  the  Church,  and,  with  her  transforming 
touch,  had  wrought  up  a  Divine  memorial  into  an  unut- 
terable mystery,  they  gather  round  it  no  words  of  dark 
and  awful  import;  they  simply  name  it,  "the  Breaking 
of  Bread  j"  "  the  Lord's  Supper  ;"  "  the  Lord's  Table  ;" 
"  the  Communion  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ." 
And,  considering  the  work  which,  in  more  modern  days, 
Truth  hath  wrought  in  unweaving  the  thick  spells  of 
superstition  from  around  the  monument  of  Himself 
which  Christ  hath  left  in  His  Church,  I  confess  it  ap- 
pears a  matter  for  profoundest  wonder  that  any  in  our 
own  Protestant  Church  should  be  found  eager  to  weave 
once  more  the  fearful  covering  of  mystery  and  of  mira- 
cle, and  therewith  to  enshroud  again  in  terrible  pomp 
these  blessed  memorials  of  their  Savior's  death  and  sac- 
rifice for  sin.  Through  the  clear  light  of  our  Protest- 
ant day  the  very  idiom  of  His  native  tongue  sounds 
louder  than  ever,  and,  in  its  most  intelligible  tones,  re- 
bukes the  strangely  unnatural  force  which  they  would 
again  put  on  His  simple  words ! 

In  what  has  now  been  said  no  pretension  to  infallibil- 
ity is  urged.  The  Scriptures  alone  have  been  taken  as 
a  guide  ;  and,  in  submission  to  their  sole  authority,  there 
has  been  an  honest  and  a  prayerful  endeavor  to  under- 
stand them,  ^s  thus  consequently  understood,  they 
are  wholly  opposed  to  the  idea  that,  in  order  to  salva- 


THE  NATURE  OF  TUE  LORd's  SUPPER.      299 

tion,  it  is  necessary  that  the  very  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  should  be  literally  given  by  the  hands  of  His 
ministers,  and  received  into  the  bodies  and  souls  of  His 
disciples,  along  with  the  Divine  symbols  by  which  they 
are  represented.  On  this  subject  the  Bible  teaches  no 
more  than  this,  that,  in  order  to  salvation,  Christ,  as 
our  Divine  and  atoning  Savior,  must  be  believed  in^  trust' 
ed,  loved,  and  obediently  followed ,'  and  that,  in  the  sacra- 
ment of  His  Supper,  we  feast,  in  common,  with  the  whole 
fellowship  of  believers,  on  the  constituted  symbols  which 
represent  His  death  and  passion,  as  endured  in  order  to 
procure  the  pardon  of  our  sins,  and  to  render  forgive- 
ness possible  to  our  fellow-creatures.  For  the  contrary 
view  no  authority  in  the  Bible  is  discoverable;  and  so 
far  as  human  authority  should  justly  have  weight  here,  its 
teachings  must  be  received  as  addressed  to  that  faith 
which,  in  the  sacred  Supper,  sees  the  absent  body  of  the 
Savior  as  though  present,  or  as  present  only  in  its  divine- 
ly-communicated benefits,  and  in  its  divinely-appointed 
representatives ;  to  that  faith  which,  thus  seeing  Him, 
feeds  spiritually  on  Him,  to  the  great  comfort  and  re- 
freshing of  the  soul ;  so  that,  in  the  language  of  our 
Communion  service,  we  "  take  and  eat  bread  in  remem- 
brance that  Christ  died  for  us ;  and  feed  on  Him  in  our 
hearts  by  faith^  with  thanksgiving." 


300  THE   NATURE    OF    THE    LOKl/s  StTPFEIt. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    NATtTRE   OF    TlIE    LORD^S    SUPPEE. 

!  Cos.,  xi.,  23-26  •,  "  23.  For  I  have  receiTed  sf  the  Lord  that  which  also  J 
delivered  unto  you,  That  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  same  night  in  which  he  was 
betrayed,  took  bread  :  24.  And  when  he  had  given  thanks,  he  brake  it,  and 
said,  '  Take,  eat ;  this  ia  my  body,  whjch  is  broken  for  yoB  :  this  do  in  re- 
membrance  of  nje.'  25.  Aftei  the  same  manner  also  he  took  the  cup,  when 
he  had  supped,  saying,  'This  cup  is  the  new  testament  in  my  blood  :  this 
do  ye,  as  oft  as  ye  drink  it,  in  remembrance  of  me.'  26.  For  as  often  as  ye 
eat  this  bread,  and  djink  this  cup,  ye  do  show  the  Lord's  death  till  he 
come." 

In  the  previous  chapter,  on  the  nature  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  I  exhibited  a  view  of  the  subject  which  was 
deemed  erroneous,  and  the  error  of  which  was  evinced 
by  an  appeal  to  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  In  the  present, 
I  shall  add  a  few  comments,  by  way  of  preparing  for  a 
statement  of  the  true  Scriptural  account  of  this  institu- 
tion. And  let  not  the  reader  be  shocked  when  I  say 
that,  in  making  these  comments,  I  shall  do  what  was 
proposed  in  the  third  place ;  in  other  words,  shall  set 
the  erroneous  view  which  has  been  exhibited  in  the 
light  of  reason  and  of  experience.  Reason  and  experi- 
ence are  sacred  things.  The  one  is  that  light  which 
God  hath  set  in  the  soul,  and  without  which  we  can 
read  neither  his  Word  nor  his  works.  The  other  is 
that  Providential  test,  to  which  He  himself  brings,  for 
a  trial  far  from  useless,  the  truth  or  the  falsehood  of  all 
human  theories.  And  that  theory,  even  of  this  holy  in- 
stitution, which  will  not  abide  the  test  both  of  reason 
and  of  experience,  gives  at  least  one  weighty  proof  that 
t  can  not  abide  the  higher  trial  of  God's  Revealed  Word. 
ni.  The  view,  then,  to  which  I  advert,  consists  in 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      301 

maintaining  that  the  very  body  and  blood  of  Christ, 
which  were  offered  in  sacrifice  on  the  cross  for  the 
sins  of  the  world,  are,  in  a  manner  inexplicable  by  us, 
really  present  in  the  elements  of  bread  and  wine  at  the 
Lord's  Supper;  that  they  are  thus  present  ^'^ independ- 
ently of  faith,''''  or  that,  whether  the  communicant  have 
faith  to  discern  them  or  not,  still  they  are  there  ;  and 
that  the  office  of  faith  is,  not  merely  to  believe  in  Christ 
as  a  crucified  and  atoning  Savior ;  not  merely  to  con- 
template the  broken  body  and  the  shed  blood  of  Christ, 
as  they  were  offered  in  sacrifice  on  the  cross ;  not 
merely  to  view  his  risen  and  glorified  humanity,  as  it 
ascended  into  heaven  and  as  it  remains  there  at  the 
right  hand  of  the  Father  ;  but  really  to  discern  that 
broken  body  and  that  shed  blood  in  the  elements,  by 
believing  those  words  of  Christ,  "This  is  my  body  and 
this  is  my  blood,"  which  make  them  present ;  and  to  re- 
ceive them  into  the  body  and  the  soul  of  the  faithful 
communicant  at  the  same  time  and  together  with  the  signs 
by  which  they  are  represented.* 

This  view  is  not  content  with  affirming  that  Christ  is 
present  at  his  Holy  Supper  in  His  Divine  nature  as  an 
Infinite  Spirit,  or  by  the  special  benefits  of  his  death 
and  sacrifice,  which  he  communicates  to  his  faithful 
disciple,  but  asks  us  to  believe  that  His  very  broken 
body  and  shed  blood  are,  however  inscrutably,  yet  real- 

*  "  Our  faith  doth  not  cause  or  make  that  presence,  but  apprehends  it  as 
most  truly  and  really  effected  by  the  Word  of  Christ ;  and  the  faith  whereby 
we  are  said  to  eat  the  flesh  of  Christ  is  not  that  only  whereby  we  believe 
that  He  died  for  our  sins  (for  this  faith  is  required  and  supposed  to  precede 
the  sacramental  manducation),  but  more  properly  that  whereby  we  believe 
those  words  of  Christ,  '  This  is  my  body,'  which  was  St.  Austin's  meaning 
when  he  said,  '  Why  dost  thou  prepare  thy  stomach  and  thy  teeth  ?  Be- 
lieve, and  thou  hast  eaten.'  For  in  this  mystical  eating,  by  the  wonderful 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  we  do  invisibly  receive  the  substance  ol  Christ's 
body  and  blood  as  much  as  if  we  should  eat  and  drink  both  visibly." —  Tracts, 
vol.  i.,  p.  199,  N.  Y.,  quoted  from  Cosin,  bishop  of  Durham. 

Cc 


302      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

ly  present  with  the  elements  ;  and  that  they  are  actually- 
conveyed  by  the  hands  of  the  officiator,  and  received 
into  the  body  and  the  soul  of  the  Christian  at  the  same 
time  with  those  elements.  And  they  who  urge  this 
view,  call  that  opposite  interpretation,  "  which  regards 
the  consecrated  elements  as  visible  symbols  only  of  his 
absent  body  and  blood,"  an  "  ultra-Protestant  theory."* 

1.  Having  sufficiently  recalled  this  view  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  the  first  remark  which  I  have  to  offer  upon  it  is 
this.  It  is  based  on  the  notion  that  salvation  depends  on 
receiving  into  our  bodies  and  souls  the  substance  of  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ ;  that  there  must  be,  somehow,  a 
commixture  and  co-unio*  of  the  substance  of  His  body 
and  blood  with  our  bodies  and  souls,  in  order  to  impart 
to  our  own  the  incorruptibleness  and  the  purity  of  His  ;f 
a  commixture  and  co-union,  indeed,  which  do  not  take 
place  by  the  process  of  natural  digestion,  but  which, 
nevertheless,  by  some  unknown  process,  are  actually 
effected. 

This  notion,  it  has  already  been  shown,  is  unscriptu- 
ral.  Receiving  Christ,  as  Christ  himself  explains  the 
act,  even  under  the  strong  figure  of  "eating  His  flesh 
and  drinking  His  blood,"  is  believing  on  Him  ;  being 
'■'■  drawn'^  to  Him,  '■'■  coming  to  Him,"  and  '■'■  seeing'''  Him 
with  that  spiritual  discernment  which  results  from  be- 
ing "  taught  of  God,"  and  from  having  *'  learned  of  Him." 
It  is  relying  on  His  sacrifice  and  righteousness,  /oviwg 
Him,  and  obeying  His  Word.  It  is  taking  by  faith  such 
a  view  of  His  nature  and  character,  of  His  office  and 
work,  as  to  be  thereby  made  partakers  of  the  grace  of 
pardon,  and,  through  the  accompanying  power  of  the 
Spirit,  to  be  influenced  to  newness  and  holiness  both  of 
heart  and  life.     It  is,  hy  faith,  "beholding  as  in  a  glass 

*  Dr.  Pusey's  Letter  to  the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  N.  Y.,  p.  96. 

t  Dr.  Pusey's  Sermon,  p.  8,  9.    Also  Tracts,  vol.  i.,  N.  Y.,  p.  206-7 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.     303 

the  glory  of  the  Lord"  (a  glass  which  becomes  most 
powerfully  reflecting  when  placed  in  the  light  of  this 
sacrament),  till  "  we  are  changed  into  the  same  image 
from  glory  to  glory,  as  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord." 

It  is  now  added,  that  receiving  Christ  in  any  other 
sense  is  as  unreasonable  as  it  is  unscriptural.  Neither 
carnally  nor  spiritually  is  the  substance  of  his  flesh  and 
blood,  however  spiritualized,  to  be  received  into  and 
commingled  with  the  substance  of  our  bodies  and  souls. 
Except  simply  ^s  faith  relies  and  feeds  on  His  atoning 
sacrifice  for  pardon,  adoption,  and  eternal  life  ;  and  as 
thus,  through  the  power  of  the  Spirit,  it  brings  His  char- 
acter into  our  characters,  fashions  us  into  a  moral  like- 
ness to  Him,  and  gives  us  herein  the  true  secret  of  im- 
mortal life  and  blessedness  j  aside  from  this  reception 
of  Christ,  there  is  no  eating  of  His  flesh,  no  drinking  of 
His  blood.  He  gave  His  body  to  be  a  sacrifice  for  sin ; 
and  the  bread,  broken  in  the  Sacred  Supper,  represents 
the  gift  and  the  sacrifice  in  which  it  was  offered.  He 
shed  His  blood  for  the  remission  of  our  sins;  and  the 
wine  poured  out  in  the  Divine  Feast  represents  the  blood 
and  the  shedding,  through  which  it  avails  for  remission. 
Yet,  when  we  eat  that  bread  and  drink  that  wine,  our  act 
is  but  love's  memorial  and  faith's  reception  of  His  act. 
We  thereby  "  celebrate  His  death  till  He  come  ;"  while, 
at  the  same  time,  amid  the  solemnities  of  our  commem- 
oration, and  through  the  sanctifyings  of  the  Sp'nh,  faith 
feels  a  quickening  as  it  feeds  on  the  benefits  of  His  sac- 
rifice ;  love  burns  with  an  intenser  flame  as  it  realizes 
His  love  for  our  souls  ;  and  obedience  grows  stronger 
with  hoth  faith  and  love,  because  the  soul  is  rapt  away 
into  heaven,  in  unwonted  communions  with  her  risen 
Lord,  the  now  glorified  Lamb  of  God. 

Except  in  such  a  sense,  there  is  no  eating  and  drink- 
ing the  flesh  and  blood  of  Christ.     The  exercises  which 


304      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

have  been  described  are,  indeed,  called  a  sacramental 
eating  and  drinking  of  that  flesh  and  blood.  This,  how- 
ever, rightly  understood,  means  no  more  than  receiving 
the  Lamb  of  God  by  faith,  while  we  partake  of  that 
bread  and  wine,  which  are  the  constituted  signs  of 
Christ  crucified,  and  which  tixe  figuratively  called  by  the 
name  of  the  things  signified.*  But  what  Christ  says, 
when  He  speaks  of  "eating  His  flesh  and  drinking  His 
blood,"  was,  as  we  have  seen,  not  spoken  of  sacramental 
eating  and  drinking;  but,  as  He  himself  explained  it,  a 
year  before  instituting  His  Supper,  it  was  a  strongly 
typical  expression  of  the  act  of  "  coming  to  Him"  in 
the  obedience  of  submissive  hearts,  and  of  "  believing  on 
Him"  as  the  only  Savior  from  sin ;  an  act  which  every 
true  Christian  performs  not  only  at  the  Lord's  Supper, 
but  also  at  other  times;  and  which,  if  we  would  go 
guiltless,  we  must  perform  before  we  ever  approach  the 
Lord's  Table. 

In  the  early,  and  toward  the  Middle  Ages,  figurative 
language,  like  that  of  Christ  in  the  sixth  chapter  of 
John,  was  profusely  used,  abounding  in  most  florid  ex- 
aggerations, and  applied  to  the  sacraments  of  the  Gos- 
pel, apparently  with  the  design  of  exalting  them  in  the 
estimation  of  a  people  who  had  long  been  accustomed 
to  the  dark  and  hidden  mysteries  of  Paganism  ;  and 
thus  of  meeting  the  charge  that  the  new  religion  was  a 
naked  system,  without  any  deep  and  interior  secrets. 
By  this  process  error  was  at  length  bred;  the  legisla- 

*  " '  If  sacraments  had  not  a  certain  similitude  of  those  things  whereof 
they  be  sacraments,  they  should  be  no  sacraments  at  all.  And  of  this 
similitude  they  do,  for  the  most  part,  receive  the  names  of  the  self-same  things 
they  signify.'  From  these  words  of  St.  Augustine,  it  appeareth  that  he  al- 
loweth  the  common  description  of  a  sacrament,  which  is,  that  it  is  a  visible 
sign  of  an  invisible  grace  ;  that  is  to  say,  that  setteth  out  to  the  eyes  and 
other  outward  senses  the  inward  working  of  God's  free  mercy,  and  doth,  as 
it  were,  seal  in  our  hearts  the  promises  of  God." — Homily  of  Common  Prayer 
and  Sacraments,  N.  Y.,  1817,  p.  296-7. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      305 

tion  of  the  Church  transubstantiated  the  figurative  into 
the  literal ;  and  the  notion  that  the  real  flesh  and  blood 
of  Christ  are  verily  given  and  received  in  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per took  possession  of  the  Church  herself,  and  for  ages 
ruled  both  the  faith  and  the  language  of  her  millions. 
So  deeply  did  the  poison  of  this  error  infect  the  theolo- 
gy and  the  modes  of  thought  and  speech  of  the  Christ- 
ians of  the  middle  ages,  that  it  influenced  the  phrase- 
ology of  those  Reformers  of  the  16th  century  who  were 
willing  to  go  to  the  stake  for  discarding  the  very  error 
which  that  phraseology  had  been  accustomed  to  enwrap. 
And  even  now,  to  those  who  read  much  and  reverentially 
the  theological  works  of  those  ages  of  corruption,  al- 
though such  readers  may  for  the  present  reject  the  final 
absurdity  of  transubstantiation  into  which  the  error  ran, 
yet  there  is  great  difficulty  in  dispossessing  their  minds 
of  the  seminal  principle  of  that  absurdity — the  idea  that, 
together  with  the  elements  of  bread  and  wine,  and  by 
the  hands  of  those  who  minister,  the  very  flesh  and  blood 
of  Christ  are  given  and  received  into  the  bodies  and 
souls  of  the  faithful  in  the  Lord's  Supper.  To  use  very 
modern  language  on  this  subject — language  which  I 
could  not  make  my  own  without  a  shudder — Christ's 
ministers  are  "  intrusted  with  the  awful  and  mysterious 
gift  of  making  tiie  bread  and  wine  Christ's  body  and 
blood  ;"*  and  this  body  and  blood,  "  in  the  celebration 
of  the  holy  Eucharist,  are  as  ir\x\Y  given  as  they  are  rep- 
resentedy^  But  to  the  spiritually  enlightened  as  well 
as  devout  traveler  into  antiquity,  who  leaps  over  that 
immense  mass  of  scholastic  subtleties  which  makes 
even  the  truths  of  the  Middle  Ages  dark,  and  who 
alights  far  back  amid  the  unobscured  truth  and  glory  of 
the  Age  of  Revelation  itself,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  un- 
derstanding that  sacramental  eating  and  drinking  con- 
*  Tracts,  vol.  i.,  p.  55.  t  Idem,  p.  214. 

Cc2 


306  THE    NATURE    OF    THE    LORd's    SUPPER. 

sist  simply  in  receiving  the  divinely-constituted  sym.' 
Ms,  or  representations,  of  Christ's  sacrifice  on  the  cross, 
accompanied  by  a  living  faith  in  the  sacrifice  represent- 
ed, and  in  Him  who  gave  himself  to  be  that  sacrifice ; 
and  that  the  language  in  which,  a  year  before  He  gave 
himself  to  the  cross,  He  spake  of  "  eating  His  flesh  and 
drinking  His  blood,"  is  but  a  strong,  though  vitally  im- 
portant figure  for  what  He  so  uniformly  inculcates  as 
the  very  ground  of  our  hope  of  salvation;  I  mean  the 
act  of  obediently  "coming  to  Him,"  and  truly  "believ- 
ing on  Him,"  as  the  only  Savior  of  lost  men. 

2.  The  second  remark  which  I  have  to  offer  on  this 
part  of  the  subject  is  this  :  that  the  erroneous  view 
which  has  been  exhibited  includes  the  doctrine  that 
pardon,  or  the  remission  of  sins  after  baptism,  is  not  only 
commemorated  and  sealed,  but  also  conveyed  by  this  or- 
dinance. 

Of  the  connection  of  baptism  with  the  remission  of 
sins  I  have  already  spoken.  That  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
with  the  same  benefit  equally  demands  our  discrimina- 
ting regards. 

One  of  the  expressions  in  the  instituting  words  of 
Christ  is  to  this  effect:  "  This  is  my  blood  of  the  New 
Testament,  which  is  shed  for  you  and  for  many /or  the 
remission  of  sins.^^  On  the  theory,  then,  that,  by  the 
act  of  consecration,  the  elemental  bread  and  wine  be- 
come mysteriously  changed  into  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ,  it  easily  follows  that  this  blood,  being  still  shed, 
still  poured  forth,  does  actually  convey,  in  the  mystery 
of  the  sacrament,  "  the  remission  of  sins."  Hence  the 
following  language  from  a  distinguished  advocate  of  this 
theory.  Having  spoken  of  the  benefits  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  to  Christians,  of  its  "gift /or  the  holy,"  and  pro- 
ceeding to  speak  of  its  benefits  to  ^^  sinners,"  of  its 
"special  joy"  for  the  guilty,  he  says,  "Although  most 


THE  NATURE  OP  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      307 

which  is  spoken  belongs  to  Christians,  as  belonging  al- 
ready to  the  household  of  saints,  and  the  family  of 
heaven,  and  the  communion  of  angels,  and  unity  with 
God,  still  here,  as  elsewhere  in  the  New  Testament, 
there  is  a  subordinate  and  subdued  notion  of  sin"  (that 
is,  there  is  this  notion  of  sin  in  the  sacrament)  ;  so  that 
"  what  wraps  the  saint  already  in  the  third  heaven,  may 
yet  uphold  us  sinners,  that  the  pit  shut  not  her  mouth 
upon  us.  The  same  reality  of  the  Divine  gift  makes  it" 
(the  sacrament)  "  angel's  food  to  the  saint,  the  ransom 
to  the  sinner  /  and  both,  because  it  is  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ.  Were  it  only  a  thankful  commemoration  of 
His  redeeming  love,  or  only  a  showing  forth  of  His 
death,  or  a  strengthening  only  and  refreshing  of  the 
soul,  it  were,  indeed,  a  reasonable  service  ;  but  it  would 
have  no  direct  healing  for  the  sinner.  To  him  its  special 
joy  is,  that  it  is  his  Redeemer's  very  broken  body  ;  it  is 
His  blood,  which  was  shed  for  the  remission  of  his  sins. 
In  the  words  of  the  ancient  Church,  he  '  drinks  his  ran- 
som ;'  he  eateth  that,  '  the  very  body  and  blood  of  the 
Lord,'  the  only  sacrifice  for  sin:  God  'poureth  out'  for 
him  yet  '  the  most  precious  blood  of  His  only  begot- 
ten.' "*  Again :  "  This  may  have  been  another  truth 
which  our  Lord  intended  to  convey  to  us  when  He  pro- 
nounced the  words,  as  the  form  which  consecrates  the  sac- 
ramental elements  into  His  body  and  blood,  that  that  pre- 
cious blood  is  still,  in  continuance  and  application  of  His 
one  oblation  once  made  upon  the  cross,  poured  out  for 
us  now,  conveying  to  our  souls,  as  being  His  blood,  with 
the  other  benefits  of  His  passion,  the  remission  of  our 
sins  ahoy  "  That  which  is  in  the  cup,"  St.  Chrysostom 
paraphrases,  "  is  that  which  flowed  from  His  side,  and 
of  that  do  we  partake."  How  should  we  approach  His 
sacred  side,  and  remain  leprous  still  1  Touching  with 
*  Dr.  Pusey's  Sermon,  N.  Y.,  p.  9. 


308  THE    NATURE    OF    THE    LORd's    SUPPER. 

our  very  lips  that  cleansing  blood,  how  may  we  not,  with 
the  ancient  Church,  confess,  "  Lo,  this  hath  touched  my 
lips,  and  shall  take  away  mine  iniquities,  and  cleanse  my 
sins  ?"* 

So,  then,  we  have  the  full-grown  doctrine,  that  this  sac- 
rament brings  a  "  direct  healing  for  the  sinner ;"  that  those 
who  fall  (as  all  do  fall)  into  actual  sin  after  baptism  may, 
though  not  Christians  in  the  sense  of  being  saints,  or  holy, 
go,  as  sinners,  to  the  sacrament,  "touch  their  lips  to  the 
blood  which  flowed  from  the  side"  of  their  Redeemer,  "  and 
remain  leprous  no  longer ;"  but  receive  there  remission  of 
their  sins,  and  have  their  iniquities  taken  away  !  And 
this,  because  Christ,  by  His  form  of  words,  "  consecrates 
the  sacramental  elements  into  His  body  and  blood  !"  By 
that  perpetual  miracle,  "  His  blood  is,  in  continuance  and 
application  of  His  one  oblation,  still  poured  forth  for  us  ; 
and  still,  by  this  continuance,  conveys  the  remission  of  our 
sins." 

How  different  this  from  the  true  doctrine  of  the  Bible  I 
This  Word  of  God,  interpreted  by  the  laws  of  the  language 
in  which  his  own  inspired  servants  spake,  does  not  say  that 
the  words  of  Christ  consecrate  the  elemental  bread  and 
wine  into  his  body  and  blood.  All  that  His  words  really 
imply  is,  that  the  bread  and  the  wine  are  His  body  and  His 
blood,  in  the  well-known  Scriptural  sense  of  representing 
that  body  and  that  blood.  Thus,  by  the  force  of  its  own 
simple,  self-interpreting  law,  the  Bible  sweeps  clean  away 
the  very  foundation  of  the  monstrous  superstructure  of  doc- 
trine which  has  been  built  on  these  truly  reasonable  words 
of  Christ.  The  blood  of  Christ  was  shed  for  the  remission 
of  sin,  not  at  the  institution  of  the  sacrament,  but  on  the  Cross 
of  Calvary ;  and  the  pouring  of  the  wine  in  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per is,  and  till  the  end  of  time  will  remain,  but  a  silently- 
speaking  memorial  of  that  glorious  sacrifice  in  which  proph- 
*  Dr.  Pusey's  Sermon,  N,  Y.,  p.  10. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      309 

ecy  was  fulfilled,  and  on  which  hangs  the  hope  of  a  world's 
salvation.  With  this,  the  instituting  words  of  Christ,  inter, 
preted  by  the  idiom  of  his  own  language,  perfectly  accord. 
"  Drink  ye  all  of  this  cup  ;  for  this  represents  my  blood  of 
the  New  Testament,  which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remis- 
sion of  sins.  Do  this,  as  often  as  ye  drink  it,  in  remem- 
brance of  me."  To  convert  this  simple  memorial  into  a 
mysteriously  actual  "  continuance'''  of  Christ's  bloodshed- 
ding;  to  consider  the  body  of  the  Church  as,  by  a  standing 
miracle,  the  perpetuated  incarnation  of  Christ ;  and  the  high 
sacrament  of  the  Church  as  that  miraculously-continued  sac- 
rifice in  which  His  blood  still  flows  for  the  remission  of  sins 
(and  this  is  now  the  undisguised  form  of  the  theory  here 
opposed),  is  most  evidently  to  fabricate  a  mere  human  no- 
tion, for  which,  as  the  Bible  furnishes  it  no  support,  the 
Bible  is  in  no  way  accountable.  Every  where,  through 
the  Bible,  the  pardon  of  sin  is  seen  to  depend  on  the  shed- 
ding of  the  blood  of  atonement ;  every  where,  through  the 
Bible,  we  see  outward  rites  pointing  us  to  this  central 
truth  of  our  religion  ;  but  nowhere  in  the  Bible  are  we 
taught  that  the  pardon  of  sin  is  conveyed  by  these  outward 
rites. 

Hear  what  the  apostle  says  of  these  riles  under  the  old 
dispensation.  "  Every  priest  standeth  daily  ministering, 
and  offering  oftentimes  the  same  sacrifices,  which  can  never 
take  away  sins."  Hear,  too,  what  he  says  of  the  One  true 
sacrifice,  which  does  take  away  sins,  and  which  was  once 
beheld  by  looking  forward  through  the  types  of  the  old  dis- 
pensation, and  is  now  seen  by  looking  backward  through  the 
symbols  of  the  new.  Speaking  of  Christ,  as  the  only  real, 
atoning  High  Priest,  he  says,  that  "  after  He  had  offered 
one  sacrifice  for  sins.  He  forever  sat  down  on  the  right  hand 
of  God,"  no  more  to  appear  among  men  in  the  work  of  sacri- 
fice ;  "  for  by  one  offering  He  hath  perfected  forever  them 
that  are  sanctified."    In  Him  we  "  have  redemption  through 


310  THE    NATURE    OF    THE    LORDS    SUPPER. 

His  blood — the  forgiveness  of  sins."  Mark,  now,  what  fol- 
lows. "  Where  remission  of  these  is,  there  is  no  more  offer- 
ing for  Jin."  — Heb.,  x.,  11,  12,  14,  18.  Christ,  by  His 
one  bloodshedding,  having,  once  for  all,  opened  the  way  of 
forgiveness,  all  sacrifice  for  sin  thenceforward  ceased.  The 
true  offering  for  sin  was  full  and  complete,  when,  on  the 
cross,  Jesus  exclaimed,  '*  It  is  finished"  bowed  his  head, 
and  died.  And  being  finished  then,  it  needs  no  continu- 
ance now,  other  than  that  outward  revelation  of  the  Word, 
and  that  inward  revelation  of  the  Spirit,  which  make  it  ef- 
fectually known  to  faith.  The  High  Sacrament  of  the 
Church  is  not  designed  to  be  a  daily  or  a  stated  repetition, 
or  continuance,  of  Christ's  once  and  forever  perfected  sacri- 
fice— a  repeated  or  continual  opening  of  the  fountain  of  his 
blood,  in  order  to  render  remission  of  sin  still  possible,  or 
accessible.  It  is,  like  the  types  of  the  old  dispensation,  but 
a  silent,  significant,  symbolic  teacher,  telling  us,  guilty  sin- 
ners, where  to  go,  where  to  look,  as  the  only  source  to  which 
we  can  go  or  look  for  that  forgiveness,  without  which  our 
everlasting  perishing  is  sealed. 

One  great  danger,  additional  to  the  intrinsic  error,  or 
growing  out  of  the  inherent  falsehood  of  the  teaching  which 
directs  men  to  this  sacrament  for  the  pardon  of  post-baptis- 
mal sin — a  pardon  authoritatively  dispensed  by  priestly  in- 
tervention —  is,  that  multitudes  of  darkened  souls  will,  as 
they  so  often  have  done,  stop  at  the  sacrament  itself ;  rest 
in  the  mere  sign  for  their  forgiveness  ;  and  never  see,  through 
or  beyond  it,  that  grand,  life-giving,  soul-saving  act  of  Christ, 
in  which  alone  is  wrapped  up  their  everlasting  salvation,  and 
missing  the  sight  of  which  by  faith,  they  miss  forever  the 
enjoyment  of  what  it  oflers.  The  teaching  here  indicated 
is  too  full  of  peril  to  be  found  in  the  Gospel  of  our  salvation. 
It  is  calculated  to  hush  myriads  of  otherwise  uneasy  con- 
sciences into  a  quiet  indulgence  in  a  life  of  actual  impeni- 
tence, under  the  soothing  thought  that  they  may,  if  not  pur- 


THE    NATURE    OF   THE    LORd's    SUPPER.  311 

chase  a  pardon  with  money  in  a  mass,  at  least  "drink"  it, 
with  "their  ransom,"  from  a  chalice.  To  such  blind  self- 
deception,  woful  experience  tells  us,  is  the  natural  mind 
every  where  prone  !  It  is  not  necessary,  in  this  place,  to 
speculate  on  the  question,  how  far  some  minds  may  hold 
error  here  in  connection  with  truth ;  or  how  far  they  may 
see  through  the  error  and  reach  the  truth ;  or  whether  they 
may  not  thus,  in  spUe  of  their  error,  be  saved  through  the 
truth  1  It  is  enough  for  us  to  know  that  such  power  to  pen- 
etrate the  mists  of  moral  darkness  is  not  natural  to  the  eye- 
sight of  the  human  mind ;  and  that  neither  is  it  the  ordi- 
nary way  of  the  Spirit  to  use  error  as  a  medium  through 
which  to  make  the  truth  apparent.  It  is  enough  for  us  to 
know  that  the  human  mind  is  always  fearfully  inclined  to 
rest  in  outward  observances,  and  to  make  a  religion  oi  forms 
a  salve  to  the  conscience  when  rendered  sore  by  the  neg- 
lect of  a  religion  oi  power. 

When  viewed  mainly  as  signs,  this  sacrament  readily 
points  us,  by  a  language  peculiarly  its  own,  to  the  vastly 
important  and  vital  thing  signijied.  But,  when  considered 
as  a  conferring  and  conveying  ordinance,  communicating  the 
pardon  which  it  only  symbolizes  and  seals,  it  proves  but  a 
veil  to  make  still  darker  the  already  darkened  heart  of  the 
natural  man.  Christ  evidently  designed  His  ordinances  to 
be  a  system  of  indices,  pointing  men  solely  to  Himself. 
Error  makes  them  but  a  set  of  blinds,  screening  Him  the 
more  effectually  from  view  ! 

What  is  contended  for  on  this  point  is,  that  it  is  the 
great  teaching  of  the  Gospel,  that  Jesus  Christ  came  to  be 
"  the  Lamb  of  God,  to  take  away  the  sin  of  the  world" 
(John,  i.,  29) ;  that  He  came  to  be  this  Lamb  of  sacrifice, 
by  shedding  His  blood  on  the  cross ;  that  "  whosoever  be- 
lieveth  on  Him"  (thus  crucified)  "  shall  receive  remission 
of  sins"  (Acts,  x.,  43) ;  that  He  is  "  the  end  of  the  law  for 
righteousness  to  every  one  that  believeth"  (Rom.,  x.,  4) ; 


312  THE    NATURE    OF   THE    LORd's   SUPPER. 

that  "  by  Him  all  that  believe  are  justified  from  all  things, 
from  which  they  could  not  be  justified  by  the  law  of  Moses" 
(Acts,  xiii.,  39) ;  in  short,  that  "  God  so  loved  the  world  that 
whosoever  believeth  on  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have 
everlasting  life"  (John,  iii.,  16) ;  should  receive  a  free  for- 
giveness of  sin,  and  (continuing  in  the  faith)  a  full  and  per- 
fect salvation.  All  this,  and  much  more  to  the  same  pur- 
pose, is  said  in  the  Gospel  of  the  remission  of  sin,  in  those 
unqualified,  absolute,  universal  terms,  which  avail  to  carry 
the  assurance  of  pardon  and  life  to  every  believer  in  Jesus, 
wherever  the  knowledge  of  His  atoning  sacrifice  may  come  ; 
an  assurance  of  this  pardon  and  life  to  faith  alone  as  the  se- 
cret link  of  union  with  the  Savior,  and  as  the  root  of  all  true 
holiness.  This  teaching  is  the  one  glorious  burden  of  the 
Gospel ;  and  we  can  no  more  put  it  out  of  sight  than  we  can 
put  out  the  sun  in  the  firmament !  It  opens  God's  way  for 
the  remission  of  sins  ;  a  way  in  which  whosoever  walketh 
shall  never  perish. 

But,  says  the  theory  which  we  are  examining,  although 
the  atoning  sacrifice  of  Christ  be  the  only  meritorious  cause 
of  the  remission  of  sins,  yet  the  sacraments  of  the  Church 
are  the  truly  instrumental  cause  of  this  remission.  The 
pardon  which  Christ  purchased  on  the  cross,  He  conveys 
through  the  sacraments. 

Here,  however,  starts  up  the  question,  What,  then,  be- 
comes of  those  myriads  who  have  the  Word  of  God,  and 
hear  the  Gospel  preached,  and  believe  in  Christ  "  with  all 
the  heart"  and  yet  have  not  access  to  the  sacraments  of 
the  Church  in  the  only  sense  in  which  this  theory  under- 
stands the  sacraments  ?  a  question  to  which  the  theorists 
have  nothing  to  reply  but  this  :  that  if  such  are  saved,  it  is 
not  by  promise,  not  by  guarantee,  not  by  covenant ;  but  in 
some  way  of  which  God  hath  been  pleased  to  tell  us 
nothing ;  perhaps  by  those  superaboundings  of  grace,  of 
which  the  Church,  as  "  a  vessel  of  mercy,"  is  so  unconfina- 


THE    NATURE    OF   THE    LORDS   SUPPER.  313 

bly  full  that  they  overfloiv,  and  reach  even  to  those  hapless 
believers   who   are  providentially  left   (if  not  left  too  far) 
beyond  the  limits  of  covenanted  favor.     This   reply,  how- 
ever, brings  out  the  thoroughly  unscriptural  character  of  the 
theory  to  which  it  belongs.     According  to  the  Bible,  all 
to    whom   the    Gospel   comes,  and   who    truly  believe  in 
Christ,  are  saved,  not  by  the  vague  possibilities  of  "  uncove- 
nanted  mercy,"  but  under  the  guarantee  of  promise,  covenant, 
and  oath.     The  covenant  of  grace  goes  with  the  Word  of 
God,  and  reaches  wherever  that  Word  is  received  into  the 
faith  of  renewed  hearts.     It  is   not  circumscribed  by  the 
walls  of  a  visible  Church,  especially  as  those  walls  are  built 
by  the  architects  of  this  restrictive  theory.     It  covers  with 
its  Divine  Palladium  every  believer  in  Jesus  who,  having 
that  Word  in  which  it  is  revealed,  clasps  it  to  his  heart,  and 
lives  on  its  assurance.    Every  such  one  has,  by  those  "  two 
immutable  things,  in  which  it  is  impossible  for  God  to  lie,  a 
strong  consolation;"  he  is  among  those  "heirs  of  promise" 
to  whom  "  God  hath  more  abundantly  shown  the  immuta- 
bility of  His  counsel,"  in  that  He  "  confirmed  it  by  an  oath*^ 
Such  a  one  •'  hath  fled  for  refuge  to  lay  hold  upon  the  hope 
set  before  him  ;"  and  this  "  hope  he  hath  as  an  anchor  of 
the  soul,  both  sure  and  steadfast,  and  which  entereth  into 
that  within  the  veil ;  whither  the  Forerunner  is  for  us  enter- 
ed— even  Jesus,  made  a  high-priest  forever,  after  the  order 
of  Melchisedec." — Heb.,  vi.,  17-20.     Every  such  believer, 
I  repeat,  is  saved,  not  by  chance,  or  by  possibility,  or  by  j^cr- 
adventure,  but  by  promise,  and  under  the  oath  of  the  cove- 
nant, whether  he  fall  within  or  without  those  walls  of  the 
visible  Church,  which  are  drawn  and  reared  by  the  hands 
of  this  limitarian  theory.      God  hath  not  two  revealed  ways 
in  which  He  extends  remission  of  sins  to  the  disciples  of 
Jesus  ;  He  hath  but  one  such  way  ;  this  way  excludes  every 
other,  wherever  the  knowledge  of  the  Savior  comes ;  and 
this  way  is  thus  marked  out :  "  God  so  loved  ike  world,  that 

D  n 


314  THE   NATUKE   OF   THE    LORd's    SUPPER, 

He  gave  His  only-begotten  Son^  that  whosoevek  helieveih 
on  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life." 

What,  then,  have  the  saeraments  to  do  with  the  remission 
of  sins,  that  our  Church  should,  in  her  offices  for  baptisnj 
and  the  Lord's  Supper,  say  so  much  of  this  remission  in 
connection  with  those  sacraments  ?  I  reply,  as  when  the 
subject  of  baptism  was  under  consideration^  they  have  jusit 
this  to  do  with  the  blessing :  they  are  symbols  of  remission, 
and  seals  of  the  promise  to  forgive  on  the  terms  of  the  cove- 
nant.* The  covenant,  as  bound  up  in  God^s  Word,  may  go 
without  its  sealSj  as  placed  in  the  hands  of  His  Church  ; 
and  yet  thes€  seals,  where  they  may  be  had,  are  not  trifling 
things  ;  they  are  of  deep  significancy,  and  of  rich  value  ; 
better  have  them  than  be  without  them ;  and  yet,  better  that 
our  right  arm  were  palsied,  than  that  we  should  attempt  to 
stay  the  flight  of  the  angel  of  the  covenant,  as  He  goeth 
forth  to  carry,  with  the  "  everlasting  Gospel,"  pardon  and 
peace  to  every  poor  sinner  that  will  believe,  because  that 
Messenger  of  good  news  carrieth  not  with  Him  every  where 
those  rich  and  precious  seals  with  which,  for  their  greater 
comfort  and  benefit,  He  hath  been  pleased  to  favor  the 
actual  members  of  the  Chvirch. 

3.  The  third  remark  which  I  have  to  make  on  the  theory 
before  us  is  this  :  The  real  presence  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  in  this  sacrament,  as  now  so  zealously  taught,  is  a 
thing  impossible. 

It  is  true,  we  are  told  by  the  theory  that  this  presence  is 
spiritual  and  invisible.  Still,  we  are  also  told  that  it  is  real ; 
that  it  is  not  an  ideal  presence  ;  that  it  is  not  faith,  seeing 
Christ's  crucified  body  on  the  cross  ;  nor  faith  seeing 
Christ's  glorified  body  in  heaven ;  but  that  it  is  his  real 

*  So  says  the  Homily,  when  it  speaks  of  the  sacraments  as  "  visible 
signs,  expressly  commanded  in  the  New  Testament,  whereunto  is  annexed 
the  promise  of  free  forgiveness  of  our  sins,"  «fcc. — Homily  on  Com.  Prayer 
and  Sacraments,  N,  Y,,  1815,  p,  299, 


THE   NATURE   OF  THE   LORD's  SUPPER.  315 

hody,  sometimes  described  as  "  the  very  body  and  blood 
which  were  broken  and  shed  on  the  cross,"*  and  at  others 
named  without  any  such  limitations  ;  but,  whether  thus  de- 
fined or  not,  still  his  real  body  and  blood,  present  with  the  el- 
ements of  the  sacrament ;  and  thus  present,  whether  faith  dis- 
cerns them  or  not,  or  though  the  communicant  have  no  faith 
for  the  discernment.  This,  I  repeat,  is  impossible.  For,  be- 
sides the  truth  taught  by  the  apostle,  that  "  flesh  and  blood 
can  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God" — and  that,  therefore, 
Christ's  risen,  and  spiritualized,  and  glorified  body  has  nei- 
ther jlesh  nor  blood,  in  any  sense  of  those  terms — besides 
this,  it  is  a  universal  and  necessary  attribute  of  body,  even 
in  its  spiritualized  state,  that  it  exists  in  place,  is  limited  by 
place,  and  can  not  be  present  in  more  than  one  place  at  one 
and  the  same  time.  Refine,  spiritualize,  glorify  body  as  we 
will,  and  render  it  as  invisible  as  we  may,  even  by  the  ab- 
sence from  it  of  flesh  and  blood,  still  it  is  but  body,  with  its 
lines  and  limits,  and  can  no  more  exist  in  two  places  at  one 
and  the  same  time  than  it  can  when  robed  in  its  grossest 
visibility.t  It  is,  therefore,  impossible  that  even  the  spirit- 
ual and  glorified  body  of  Christ  should  be  in  heaven  and  yet 
on  earth  ;  or  that  it  should  be  present  on  earth,  at  one  and 
the  same  time,  in  all  the  places  where  this  sacrament  is  si- 
multaneously administered.  Of  course,  such  a  presence  is 
still  more  impossible  (if  impossibilities  may  be  compared) 
when  predicated  of  the  "  very  body  and  blood  of  Christ 

*  Dr.  Pusey's  Sermon,  p.  9,  N.  Y. 

t  The  English  Prayer  Book,  in  explaining  the  posture  of  kneeling,  as  re- 
quired of  the  Enghsh  communicant,  says,  among  other  things,  "  It  is  hereby 
declared,  that  thereby  no  adoration  is  intended,  or  ought  to  be  done,  either 
unto  the  sacramental  bread  and  wine  there  bodily  received,  or  unto  any  cor- 
poreal presence  of  Christ's  natural  flesh  and  blood.  For  the  sacramental 
bread  and  wine  remain  still  in  their  very  natural  substances,  and  therefore 
may  not  be  adored  (for  that  were  idolatry,  to  be  abhorred  of  all  faithful 
Christians) ;  and  the  natural  body  and  blood  of  our  Savior  Christ  are  in  heav- 
en, and  not  here^  it  being  against  the  truth  of  Christ's  natural  body  to  be  at 
one  time  in  more  places  than  one." 


316      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

which  were  broken  and  shed  on  the  cross"  which,  as  com- 
posed of  the  corruptibilities  of  flesh  and  blood,  were  dropped 
when  his  glorified  body  sprang  up  from  the  rock  of  Joseph  ; 
and  which,  consequently,  are  no  longer  in  existence  any 
where,  as  a  separate,  organic  human  frame.  To  suppose  such 
a  presence  of  his  body,  whether  under  the  one  or  the  other 
of  these  forms,  is  to  suppose  that  Jiiiite  body,  like  infinite 
spirit,  may  be  omnipresent.  It  is  to  teach  as  thorough  an 
absurdity  and  injpossibility  as  that  the  bread  and  wine  are, 
by  the  miracle  of  a  priestly  consecration,  themselves  transub- 
stantiated  wherever  this  sacrament  is  administered,  so  that 
they  are  no  longer  bread  and  wine,  but  the  true,  visible 
body  and  blood  of  Christ ;  yea,  as  many  such  bodies  as 
there  are  simultaneous  administrations  of  this  sacrament,  or 
even  as  there  are  separate  communicants  who,  at  one  and 
the  same  time,  are  held  to  receive,  each  and  every  one, 
whole  and  entire,  the  undivided  body  and  blood,  soul  and 
divinity,  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ! 

Take  this  subject  as  it  lies  in  the  Bible,  and  all  is  simple 
and  plain.  The  crucified  and  broken  body  of  Christ  exists 
for  us,  in  its  organic  form,  only  on  the  cross,  where,  once 
for  all,  its  great  office  '■'■  was  finished."  His  risen  and  glo- 
rified body  exists  only  and  always  in  heaven,  where  he  "  is 
forever  set  down  at  the  right  hand  of  God."  At  his  sacred 
Supper,  then,  wherever  simultaneously  administered  over 
the  face  of  the  wide  e^xih.,  faith  takes  the  soul  of  every  be- 
liever either  to  his  cross  on  Calvary,  or  to  his  throne  in 
heaven,  and  shows  him  there,  according  to  the  bent  which 
his  spirit  may  have  received,  either  the  pierced  and  bleed- 
ing form  of  Him  who  once  died  for  his  sins,  or  the  beatified 
and  triumphant  form  of  Him  who  now  reigns,  his  Advo- 
cate with  the  Father  on  high.  No  matter  from  what  wide 
extremes  of  the  earth  His  communing  disciples  thus  look 
upon  Him  ;  there  He  is,  the  one  gathering-point  of  all  their 
worshiping   thoughts,  the    one   object   of  faith's   adoring 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      317 

vision  to  all  his  countless  followers  below  ;  made,  through 
their  faith,  the  "  spiritual  food,"  and  the  "  heavenly  refec- 
tion" of  their  longing  souls.* 

But  the  moment  we  adopt  a  theory  which  brings  His  body 
down  either  from  the  cross  to  the  communion  table,  or  from 
heaven  to  earth,  and  which  makes  Him  really  and  bodily 
present  in  the  sacrament,  as  simultaneously  administered  in 
numberless  places,  or  in  any  two  places,  that  moment  our 
theory  involves  an  impossibility ;  while,  at  the  same  time, 
it  plunges  the  company  of  His  followers  into  a  sea  of  confu- 
sion, where  waves  of  conjecture  and  imagination,  of  super- 
stition and  error,  toss  and  mix  themselves  incessantly,  leav- 
ing the  inquiring  mind  no  resting-place  but  that  which  it 
finds  by  driving  through  uncertainty  into  utter  dissatisfac- 
tion ;  from  utter  dissatisfaction  into  perplexing  doubt ;  and 
from  perplexing  doubt  into  blank  unbelief! 

I  said  the  inquiring  mind  can  find  no  resting-place  but 
this,  under  such  a  theory.  I  add,  some  minds  will  be  al- 
ways inquiring,  and,  at  times,  the  mass  of  mind  will  be 
roused  to  inquiry.  The  mind  of  man  can  not  be,  always 
and  every  where,  broken  into  bondage,  into  an  unquestion- 
ing submission  to  mere  human  authority,  as  it  binds  its  bur- 
dens of  absurdity  on  the  backs  of  abject  ignorance,  even 
though  it  be  beneath  the  awfully  heavy  rod  of  religious  ter- 
rors that  it  is  first  made  to  stoop.  Prone  to  the  earth  as  all 
minds  are  through  sin,  and  willing  as  many  are  to  be  fet- 

*  "  We  ought"  (says  the  Homily,  repeating  "  the  advice  of  the  Council 
of  Nice"),  "we  ought  to  lift  up  our  minds  by  faith,  and  leaving  these  infe- 
rior and  earthly  things,  there  seek  it  (the  body  of  Christ)  where  the  Sun  of 
Righteousness  ever  shineth.  Take,  then,  this  lesson" — "  that,  when  thou  go- 
est  up  to  the  reverend  communion,  to  be  satisfied  with  spiritual  meats,  thou 
look  up  with  faith  upon  the  holy  body  and  blood  of  thy  God,  thou  marvel 
with  reverence,  thou  touch  it"  (not  with  thy  lips)  "  with  the  mind,  thou  re- 
ceive it"  (not  from  the  hand  that  ministers)  "with  the  hand  of  thy  heart, 
and  thou  take  it  fully"  (not  into  thy  body)  "  with  thy  inward  man.'' — Homi' 
ly  of  the  worthy  receiving  and  reverent  esteeming  of  the  Sacrament  of  the  Body 
and  Blood  of  Christ,  N.  Y.,  1815,  p.  279-80. 

Dd3 


318  THE    NATURE   OF    THE    LORd's    SUPPER. 

tered  even  for  life  in  ignorance,  yet  there  are  always  some 
that  will  not  be  slaves  in  understanding,  though  they  may 
be  slaves  to  passion  ;  and  others,  who  will  not  be  slaves 
either  in  the  one  sense  or  in  the  other ;  while,  at  the  same 
time,  there  is  ever  a  liability  to  those  crises,  when  the  mass 
of  mind  will  be  roused  from  ignoble  lethargy,  and  when 
those  master  spirits  that  always  rise  from  such  a  "  vasty 
deep"  of  agitation,  will  seize  on  the  excited  elements,  and 
work  them  up  into  a  tempest  capable  of  scattering  the 
gloomy  fabrics  of  superstition  into  one  wide  wreck.  Such 
crises  have  occurred ;  they  may  again  occur  ;  and  when- 
ever they  do  occur,  they  present  those  emergencies  in 
which  myriads  of  valuable  minds  are  driven  from  their 
moorings  in  the  harbor  of  the  Church,  and  thus,  what  was 
intended  to  keep  them  bound  to  an  unquestioning  credulity 
(for  it  can  not  be  called  faith),  results  in  forcing  them  off 
into  cold  unbelief,  and  even  into  utter  atheism ! 

The  difficulty  in  the  theory  under  examination,  which 
arises  from  the  necessity  of  supposing  the  body  of  Christ 
to  be  brought  from  heaven  to  earth,  and,  in  fact,  to  exist 
simultaneously  in  more  than  one  place,  has  not  been  unper- 
ceived  by  the  advocates  of  that  theory.  Hence  some,  al- 
though they  seem  disinclined  to  meet  the  difficulty  in  its 
whole  breadth,  yet  tell  us  thus  much :  "  This  manner 
of  presence  is  unaccountable,  and  past  finding  out ;  not  to 
be  searched  and  pried  into  by  reason,  but  beliered  hy  faith. 
And  if  it  seem  impossible  that  the  flesh  of  Christ  should  de- 
scend and  come  to  be  our  food  through  so  great  a  distance, 
we  must  remember  how  much  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
exceeds  our  sense  and  our  apprehensions,  and  how  absurd 
it  would  be  to  undertake  to  measure  His  immensity  by  our 
weakness  and  narrow  capacity;  and  so  make  owx faith  to 
conceive  and  believe  what  our  reason  can  not  comprehend."* 

*  Tracts,  vol.,  i.,  N.  Y.  ed.,  p.  199. 

I  am  not  ignorant  of  the  explanation  of  this  difficulty  given  in  the  fa- 


THE    NATURE    OF   THE  LORD  S   SUPPER.  319 

But  to  what  does  all  this  amount,  but  the  presenting  of  an 

unaccountably  absurd  notion,  demanding  for  it  an  unques- 

mous  Tract  No.  90.  But,  really,  that  explanation  seems  to  me  a  quibble 
unworthy  of  a  serious  author.  The  writer  was  led  to  it  by  the  force  of  the 
language  of  the  English  Prayer  Book,  already  cited.  This  language,  as  we 
have  seen,  denies  the  "  corporeal  presence  of  Christ's  natural  flesh  and  blood" 
in  the  sacrament.  This,  the  writer  intimates,  was  intended  to  deny,  not 
the  real,  but  only  the  carnal  presence  of  Christ's  body.  That  is,  Christ's 
presence  in  the  Eucharist,  though  not  corporeal  in  the  sense  oi carnal,  is  yet 
real  and  bodily  in  the  sense  uncarnMe. 

Again,  the  language  of  the  English  Prayer  Book  says, "  The  natural  body 
and  blood  of  our  Savior  Christ  are  in  heaven,  and  not  here ;  it  being  against 
the  truth  of  Christ's  natural  body  to  be  at  one  time  in  more  places  thaa 
one."  And  this,  the  writer  intimates,  is  intended  again  to  deny,  not  the  real, 
but  only  the  local  presence  of  that  body  and  blood  in  the  sacrament.  And 
then  he  gives  a  dissertation  of  several  pages  to  prove  that,  in  the  Eucharist, 
Christ  "is  reully  here,  yet  not  locally ;"  and  to  show  what  is  meant  by  be- 
ing "  really,  yet  not  locally  present."  The  result  which  he  reaches  is,  that 
"locally,  Christ's  body  and  blood  are  at  God's  right  hand;  yet  really,  they 
are  present  here." 

And  how  does  he  reach  this  result  ?  I  can  not  follow  the  whole  process 
by  which  he  reaches  it ;  but  its  principal  steps  are  these.  "  Why  should 
the  perception  of  our  eyes  or  our  ears  be  the  standard  of  presence  or  dis- 
tance ?  Christ  may  really  be  close  to  us,  though  in  heaven,  and  His  pres- 
ence in  the  sacrament  may  be  but  a  manifestation  to  the  worshiper  of  that 
nearness;  not  a  change  of  place,  which  may  be  unnecessary."  "The  body 
and  blood  of  Christ  may  be  really,  literally  present  in  the  Holy  Eucharist ; 
yef,  not  having  become  present  by  local  passage,  may  still,  literally  and  really, 
be  at  God's  right  hand."  Illustration.  "  A  thing  is  present,  which  is  so 
circumstanced  as  to  act  upon  us,  and  influence  us,  whether  we  are  sensible 
of  it  or  not."  "  The  stars  are  millions  of  miles  off,  yet  they  impress  ideas 
upon  our  souls  through  our  sight."  "  Sight,  for  certain  purposes,  annihi- 
lates space."  "  Other  unknown  capacities,  bodily  or  spiritual,  may  annihi- 
late it  for  other  purposes."  Christ  may  "open  the  heavens,"  "in  the  sac- 
ramental rite,"  and  "  then  dispense  with  time  and  space,  in  Che  sense 
in  which  they  are  daily  dispensed  with  in  the  sun's  warming  us  at  the 
distance  of  100,000,000  of  miles."  "  Locomotion  is  the  means  of  a  mate- 
rial presence ;  the  sacrament  is  the  means  of  His  spiritual  presence."  "  We 
kneel  before  his  heavenly  throne,  and  the  distance  is  as  nothing;  it  is 
as  if  that  throne  were  the  altar  close  to  us." — Tract  No.  90,  London,  1841, 
p.  52-57. 

At  this  explanation  I  confess  astonishment !  Tioes  all  the  talk  of  these 
writers,  then,  on  this  point,  come  but  to  this:  that  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  are  present  in  the  sacrament  because,  though  locally  in  heaven,  they 
are  yet  so  circumstanced  in  tlial  rite  as  to  infiuejux  us  on  earth  ?  that,  as  the 


320      THE  NATURE  OP  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

tioning  faith,  and  forbidding  reason  to  inquire  into  its  possi- 
bility?    If  this  principle  be  allowed,  what  unaccountable 

stars  and  the  sun  affect  our  senses  and  impress  ideas  on  our  souls  through 
the  distance  of  incalculable  millions  of  miles,  and  may,  therefore,  be  said  to 
be  present  to  us  ;  so  the  body  of  Christ  influences  us  and  impresses  ideas  on 
our  souls,  even  from  its  seat  at  God's  right  hand,  and  may,  therefore,  be 
said  to  be  present  to  us  in  the  sacrament !  Why,  this  seems  to  amount  onlif 
to  the  scriptural  and  reasonable  truth,  that  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  are, 
at  the  Lord's  Supper,  present  to  our  faith,  as  the  spiritual  faculty  which  an- 
nihilates  time  and  space ;  that  faith  sees  them,  though  locally  absent,  and 
thus  makes  them  effectively  present ;  giving  them  influence  over  our  souls, 
and  making  them  "  our  spiritual  food  and  sustenance  in  that  holy  sacra'- 
ment."  This  is  the  very  doctrine  which  we  hold,  and  ag-ainst  which,  in 
other  places,  these  writers  so  strenuously  contend  !  Can  such  an  explana- 
tion have  treen  seriously  given  ?  Notwithstanding  all  that  has,  in  so  many 
■ways,  been  said  to  prove  that  the  very  body  and  blood  of  Christ  are  in  the 
Eucharist,  and  that  they  are  conveyed  by  the  hands  of  the  minister,  and  rev 
ceived  into  the  body  and  soul  of  the  communicant  at  the  same  time  and  to- 
gether with  their  signs,  does  it,  after  all,  mean  but  this  :  "  We  kneel  before 
His  heavenly  throne,  and  the  distance  is  as  nothing  ;  it  is  as  if  that  throne 
were  the  altar  close  to  us?"  No ;  this  is  not  all  that  is  meant ;  and  there 
are  phrases  in  the  explanation  which  show  that  it  is  not.  I  refer  to  such  as 
these  :  "  We  know  nothing  to  negative  the  notion,  that  the  soul  may  be  ca- 
pable of  having  Christ  present  to  it  by  the  stimulating  of  dormant,  or  the  de^ 
velopment  of  jiossible  energies.  As  sight,  for  certain  purposes,  annihilates 
space,  so  other  unlawum  capacities,  bodily  cr  spiritual,  may  annihilate  it  for 
ether  purposes."  This  shows  that,  after  all  that  is  said  by  way  of  explain- 
ing a  real  and  bodily  presence  into  a  mere  presence  to  the  contemplation 
of  faith,  they  still  carry  the  idea  of  a  presence,  which  can  be  effected  only 
by  a  miracle ;  by  the  "  stimulating  of  dormant,  or  the  development  of  possible  en- 
ergies," or  by  the  working  of  an  "  unknown  bodily  capacity,"  which,  for  the 
purpose  contemplated  in  the  sacrament,  may  "  annihilate  space,"  and  so 
make  Christ's  body  really  present  in  the  Eucharist,  though  Ixally  absent  in 
heaven. 

The  truth  is,  no  one  can  read  the  other  writings  of  these  authors,  and 
then  read  the  explanation  to  which  we  have  been  attending,  without  feeling 
that  what  is  ostensible  in  that  explanation  is  but  a  cover,  convenient  for  the 
occasion,  thrown  over  the  real  meaning  which  is  held  of  a  true  bodily  pres- 
ence in  the  Eucharist.  This  may  be  well  intended,  but  it  is  wrong.  In 
sober  discussion,  no  man  may  use  at  one  moment  plain  English  terms,  and 
at  another  moment  virtually  say  they  mean  no  such  thing  as  their  words 
imply.  They  must  be  held  to  the  literal  meaning  of  their  ordinary  language^, 
and  not  be  allowed  to  escape  through  an  explanation  to  which  they  may 
be  driven  by  an  emergency. 


THE  NATURE  OP  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      321 

absurdity,  nay,  what  palpable  impossibility,  may  not  be 
brought  forward  and  urged  on  the  unreasoning  credulity  of 
blinded  men  ? 

The  extract,  as  I  have  remarked,  does  not  meet  the  whole 
breadth  of  the  difficulty.     This   difficulty  does  not  arise 
from  the  necessity  of  bringing  the  body  of  Christ  once  or 
twice,  or  any  number  of  times,  from  heaven  to  earth  5  but 
from  the  necessity  of  so  bringing  it  down  to  earth  as  that  it 
shall  yet  remain  in  heaven,  where  it  is  "  set  down  forever  at 
the  right  hand  of  God  ;"  nor  only  so,  but,  moreover,  from  the 
necessity  of  so  bringing  it  down  as  that,  while  it  remains  in 
heaven,  it  shall  yet  be  present,  whole  and  entire,  at  one 
and  the  same  moment,  in  many  and  in  distant  places  of  the 
earth.     Nevertheless,  though  the  extract  does  not  meet  the 
tvhole  of  the  difficulty,  yet  it  looks  toward  that  difficulty ; 
and,  in  doing  so,  adopts  a  principle  which,  if  allowed,  will 
be  found  to  imbody  a  power  sufficient  to  force  any  absurd- 
ity, any  impossibility,  on  the  unreasoning  credulity  of  blind- 
ed men.      Such  teaching  comeih  not  of  the  Bible!     This  is 
not  a  question  whether  '■'■faith  shall  conceive  what  reason 
can  not  comprehend."     Such  demands  on  the  faculty  ad- 
dressed by  revelation  may  undoubtedly  be  made.     Thus, 
reason  can  not  comprehend  how  the  human  and  the  Divine 
natures  were  once  so  united  as  to  form  one  Christ.     And 
yet  faith  may  be  called  on  to  receive  the  doctrine,  because, 
while  it  is  revealed,  it  involves  neither  absurdity  nor  impos- 
sibility, being  merely  incomprehensible.     Nor,  again,  is  the 
present  a  question  touching  the  possible  modes  of  God's 
existence  as  an  infinite  Spirit.     For  although  reason  can 
not  comprehend  how  God,  as  such  a  Spirit,  can  be  omni- 
present, yet  faith  may  be  required  to  believe,  because  the 
doctrine  is  revealed,  and  because  it  involves  nothing  either 
absurd  or  impossible.     But  the  question  now  before  us  is 
one  which  touches  the  presence  or  omnipresence  of  that 
body  of  Christ,  in  which  God  hath  been  pleased  to  become 


822  THE    NATURE   OP   THE   LORd's   SUPPER. 

"  manifest  in  the  flesh  ;"  "  of  that  very  substance  which  He 
took  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  afterward  carried  with  Him 
into  heaven."*     This  is  the  question  with  which  we  are 
here  concerned ;  and  being  such,  we  say  to  it,  that  of  the 
modes  of  bodily  existence  we  do  know  something,  and  in 
the  simple  light  of  that  reason  with  which  God  hath  en- 
dowed us,  can  conceive  more.     We  are  not,  therefore,  to 
be  awed  from  inquiries  into  it  by  the  suggestion  that  this 
would  be  to  question  the  omnipotence  of  the  Divine  Spirit. 
It  is,  indeed,  said  that  "  with  God  all  things  are  possible." 
But  this  is  spoken  with  necessary  and  well-known  limita- 
tions.    Some  things  are  impossible  even  with  Him.    Change, 
incongruity,  sin,  falsehood,  absurdity,  are  impossible  with 
Him.     This  notion  of  the  implied  ubiquity  of  Christ's  glori- 
fied body  is  both  false  and  absurd.     It,  therefore,  is  clearly 
impossible,  and  can  not  be  forced  on  us  as  the  meaning  of 
that  Divine  Teacher,  in  whom  dwelt  ever  the  spirit  of  clear, 
transparent  wisdom,  and  of  reasonable,  though  sometimes 
unfathomable  truth.     Let  us  believe  Him  when  He  says, 
"  This  is  my  body,  this  is  my  blood  ;"  and  let  us  believe  all 
that  He  means  by  the  saying.     But,  at  the  same  time,  let 
us  believe  only  what  He  means  as  interpreted  by  the  laws 
of  His  own  language ;  for  to  believe  more  or  other  than  this 
is  to  believe  not  Him,  but  our  own  perhaps  absurd  conceits. 
4.  The  fourth  and  last,  perhaps  the  most  important,  re- 
mark which  I  have  to  offer  on  the  theory  before  us,  is  this  : 
the  great  error  which  it  imbodies  is  a  moral  generant ;  that 
is,  it  produces  other  errors. 

If  the  error  concerning  the  real  presence  of  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ  stood  alone,  a  barren  notion,  incapable  of 
moral  production,  the  evil  from  it  would  be  less  ;  though  even 
then  it  would  be  of  sufiicient  magnitude  to  justify  the  strong- 
est protest  against  its  admission.  But  it  stands  not  alone  j 
it  is  not  a  barren  notion  ;  it  is  prolific ;  and  its  offspring  are, 
*  Tracts,  vol.  i.,  N.  Y.,  p.  202. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      323 

if  possible,  more  mischievous  than  their  parent.  This  re- 
mark opens  a  wide  field  ;  so  wide,  that  I  shall  not  attempt  to 
explore  its  whole  breadth.  A  few  words  must  suffice  to  in- 
dicate something  of  its  extent  and  of  its  contents. 

(1.)  Perhaps,  then,  the  first  oflspring  which  the  error 
produces,  is  the  doctrine  that,  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  there  is 
offered  a  "  true  liost ;"  in  plainer  English,  a  real  sacrifice. 
This  conception  had  its  birth  centuries  ago ;  and  it  is  fast 
growing,  or,  rather,  has  fully  grown,  into  the  views  and  lan- 
guage of  many  of  our  own  religious  teachers.  Hence,  we 
are  told  that,  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  sinner  "  drinks  his 
ransom  ;  he  eateth  that,  the  very  body  and  blood  of  the 
Lord,  the  only  sacrifice  for  sin."*  "  That  precious  blood  is 
still,  in  continuance  and  application  of  His  one  oblation  once 
made  upon  the  cross,  poured  out  for  us  now,  conveying  to 
our  souls,  as  being  His  blood,  with  the  other  benefits  of  His 
passion,  the  remission  of  our  sins  also."t  The  writers  in 
question  call  the  sacrifice,  which  is  oflfered  in  the  Eucharist, 
a  "  commemorative,  impetraiory  sacrifice  ;"  and  hold  that,  "  by 
this  sacrifice  is  obtained  remission  of  sins  for  the  whole 
Church,  and  some  additional  refreshment  for  the  souls  of 
the  dead  in  their  intermediate  state. ";{: 

If  it  be  true  that  Christ's  body  and  blood  are  really,  even 
though  invisibly,  present  in  the  sacrament.  His  body  broken 
and  His  blood  shed,  and  both  made  an  oblation  unto  God, 
it  of  course  follows  that,  in  every  repetition  of  the  sacra- 
ment, there  is  a  repetition,  or  "  continuance,^'  of  the  sacri- 
fice of  Christ ;  in  a  sense  subordinate,  it  is  true,  to  that  in 
which  it  was  offered  on  the  cross,  but  still,  a  "  true  host," 
a  real  sacrifice  ;  "  commemorative  and  impetratory  ;"  avail- 
able for  pardon  to  the  living  members  of  the  Church ;  and 
(as  the  theorists  will  have  it)  not  without  benefit  to  the  be- 

*  Pusey's  Sermon,  p.  9.  t  Idem,  p.  10. 

X  Tract  No.  81,  p.  4-7,  as  referred  to  in  Good's  Letter  to  the  Bishop  of 
Oxford,  on  "  Some  of  the  Difficulties  in  his  late  Charge,"  Phil.,  1842,  p.  10. 


324  THE    NAITJRE    OF    THE    LORD  S   SUPPER. 

Heving  dead.  Hence,  in  their  phraseology,  what  St.  Paul 
calls  "  the  Lord's  Table"  becomes  an  altar ;  the  conse- 
crated elements  cover  a  victim ;  and  the  minister  of  Jesus 
stands  a  priest  amid  the  awful  solemnities  of  a  verita- 
ble sacrifice.  And  hence,  under  the  Chrislian  as  well 
as  under  the  Jewish  dispensation,  "  every  priest  standeth 
daily  ministering,  and  offering  oftentimes  the  same  sacrifi- 
ces ;"  of  which  we  may  say,  as  the  apostle  said  of  those 
typic  offerings  of  old,  they  "  can  never  take  away  sins."  If 
this  theory  be  right,  it  ceases  to  be  true  that  Christ,  by 
"  offering  one  sacrifice  for  sins,"  "  hath  perfected  forever 
them  that  are  sanctified."  The  work  of  their  salvation  can 
not  be  completed  without  many  sacrifices ;  sacrifices  more 
numerous  than  even  the  great  annual  types  of  atonement 
under  the  Law. 

All  this,  it  is  obvious,  is  utter  subversion  to  the  Gos- 
pel. This  Divine  system  knows  nothing  of  any  sacri- 
fice but  that  which  Christ  '''■finished^''  on  the  cross;  and 
by  finishing  which,  he  brought  to  an  end  forever  the 
whole  system  of  even  typical  sacrifices.  The  Gospel 
knows  nothing  of  a  system  of  '■'■commemorative  and  im- 
petratory  sacrifices,^^  which  have  succeeded  to  the  types 
of  the  Law,  and  which  look  backward,  as  their  predeces- 
sors look  forward,  to  the  cross  ;  while,  at  the  same 
time,  they  avail  for  pardon  to  the  living,  and  for  grace 
to  the  dead.  The  Lord's  Supper  is,  indeed,  a  commemo- 
rative rite,  looking  backward  to  the  cross  ;  but  its  char- 
acter as  an  "  impetratory  sacrifice'^  is  a  human  invention, 
added  to  what  the  Gospel  calls  simply  the  "  breaking  of 
bread,^''  "  the  Lord's  Supper,''  the  "  Lord's  Table,'"  and  the 
*■'■  communion  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ ;"  that  is, 
a  social  fellowship  in  partaking  of  the  bread  and  wine, 
as  consecrated  symbols  of  Christ's  body  and  blood,  in 
contradistinction  from  a  merely  private  and  irregular 
feast  upon  those  elements,  as  though  they  were  but  an 


THE  NATURE  OP  THE  LORD  S  SUPPER.      325 

ordinary  and  profane  meal.  If  the  Lord's  Supper  was 
designed  to  carry  with  it,  in  any  sense,  the  character 
and  efficacy  of  a  sacrifice,  why  is  there  no  intimation 
of  such  a  design  in  all  the  New  Testament  \  The  truth 
is,  that,  by  ceasing  to  apply  the  term  "  sacrifice'''  in  its 
proper  sense,  under  the  Gospel,  to  every  thing  save  the 
death  of  Christ  as  an  atonement  for  sin,  the  inspired 
writers  evidently  designed  to  imbody  this  grave  and  vi- 
tally important  teaching,  that  the  One,  great,  and  only 
propitiatory  sacrifice  having  been  offered  once  for  all, 
the  whole  system  of  typical  and  representative  sacrifices 
is  at  an  end  forever,  and  is  forever  to  remain  without 
successor  and  without  substitute.  And  there  is  a  need 
of  this  teaching  now,  which  did  not  exist  under  the  old 
dispensation.  Then  the  great  Atonement  had  been  nei- 
ther publicly  offered  nor  fully  revealed.  It  was  neces- 
sary, therefore,  to  keep  up  a  lively  idea  of  sin,  and  of 
Xhe  necessity  of  atonement,  by  a  system  of  most  speaking 
types.  Hence,  living  victims  were  ordered  to  be  slain, 
and  animal  blood  to  be  sprinkled,  amid  all  the  solemni- 
ties of  an  imposing  ritual  ;  a  ritual  carrying,  neverthe- 
less, on  its  very  face,  the  truth,  that  "  those  sacrifices 
which  were  offered  year  by  year  continually,^''  could  not, 
of  themselves,  "  take  away  sin  ;"  while,  at  the  same  mo- 
ment, it  served  to  keep  alive  both  a  sense  of  sin,  and  the 
idea  that  a  real  and  efficacious  atonement  was  necessary. 
But  now  this  real  and  efficacious  atonement  having 
been  both  publicly  offered  and  fully  revealed,  the  whole 
system  of  typical  and  representative  sacrifices  is  abolish- 
ed, and  the  pall  of  significant  silence  is,  under  the  Gos- 
pel, thrown  over  the  dead  body  of  that  system,  in  order 
that  there  may  be  nothing,  not  even  a  word,  to  turn 
away  our  eye  from  the  sacrifice  on  the  cross,  the  true 
"  Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world," 
as  He  stands  forth  luminously  manifest  in  the  Gospel, 
E  K 


326      THE  NATURE  OP  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

the  only  hope  of  the  sinner.  To  introduce  the  idea 
that  "  impetratory  sacrifices"  are  necessary  and  avail- 
able under  the  Gospel,  is  to  argue  defect,  incomplete- 
ness, in  the  one  sacrifice  of  Christ.  It  is  saying  that 
that  one  sacrifice,  through  the  Word  which  reveals  it, 
and  the  Spirit  which  applies  it,  to  our  minds,  when,  un- 
der the  teachings  of  the  Gospel,  we  behold  by  faith 
the  Lamb  of  God  lifted  up — is  not  enough  ;  but  that  its 
efficacy  depends  upon,  or  must  be  conveyed  through, 
the  instrumentality  of  a  visible  form  !  A  visible  form, 
indeed,  may,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  be  of  use  in  va- 
rious ways;  but  to  invest  it  with  the  character  thus 
claimed  for  it  is,  I  repeat,  utter  subversion  to  the  Gos- 
pel. 

The  silence,  for  which  the  Gospel  is  so  remarkable 
as  to  the  sacrificial  character  of  the  Eucharist,  is  equal- 
ly distinctive  of  the  standards  of  our  Church.  The 
Gospel,  it  is  true,  calls  the  "  bodies''''  of  Christians,  in  a 
figurative  sense,  "  sacrifices  "  even  while  they  are  "  liv- 
ing''^ (Rom.,  xii.,  1)  ;  it  caUsfiaith  a  "  sacrifice"  as  well  as 
a  "  service"  (Phil.,  ii.,  17)  ;  it  calls  the  liberalities  of 
Christians,  in  the  spread  of  the  Gospel,  "  a  sacrifice," 
even  "  acceptable  and  well  pleasing  to  God"  (Phil,,  iv., 
18  J  also,  Heb.,  xiii.,  16)  ;  it  calls  praise  and  thanksgiving 
to  God  a  "sacrifice,"  as  being  "  the  fruit  of  lips'^  that 
know  how  to  interpret  the  gratitude  of  holy  hearts 
(Heb.,  xiii.,  15)  ;  and  it  calls  the  worship  and  good 
works  of  all  Christians  "  sacrifices,"  "  spirituaV  in  their 
nature,  and  offered  by  "  a  holy  priesthood'''  in  "  a  spirit- 
ual house"  (1  Pet.,  ii.,  .5).  And  the  Gospel  calls  all  these 
things  "  sacrifices,"  because,  in  their  propernature,  they 
are  not  sacrifices;  and  because  the  beautiful j^gwre^,  in 
which  they  are  called  so,  carry  with  them  their  own  in- 
terpretation, and  can  never  mislead.  But  the  Lord's 
Supper  it  never  calls  a  "  sacrifice,"  because,  though  in 


THE  NATURE  OP  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      327 

Its  proper  nature  not  a  sacrifice,  yet,  such  is  its  relation 
as  the  symbol  of  atonement,  that  even  to  call  it  J^u- 
ratively  a  sacrifice,  would  be  to  mislead  innumera- 
ble minds  by  the  authority  of  apparently  Divine  sanc- 
tion. Every  thing  else  pleasing  to  God  may  be  called 
figurative  sacrifices  j  but  not  this,  lest,  in  its  peculiar 
connection,  superstition  should  translate  the  figurative 
into  the  literal,  and  thus,  to  use  the  words  of  the  Homi- 
ly, "  lest  of  the  memory,  it  be  made  a  sacrifice  ;"*  that  is, 
lest  what  was  intended  to  be  a  memorial  of  Christ's 
death,  be  perverted  into  a  sacrifice,  in  derogation  of 
that  of  which  it  is  a  memorial. 

Thus  significantly  silent  is  the  Gospel  on  this  point. 
I  repeat,  equally  distinctive  is  this  silence  of  the  stand- 
ards of  our  Church.  Our  office  "for  the  administration 
of  the  Lord's  Supper"  calls  the  alms  of  the  communi- 
cants '■^  sacrifices,''^  just  as  the  Gospel  does  ;  and  their 
offering  '■^  o{  praise  and  thanksgiving''^  it  calls  a  "  sacri- 
fice,^^ with  a  similar  following  of  the  Gospel ;  and  the 
"  presentation  of  themselves,  souls  and  bodies,^''  it  calls  a 
"  living  sacrifice,^^  in  the  very  words  of  the  Gospel  j  and, 
finally,  it  calls  the  "  bounden  duty  and  service"  of  their 
worshiping  act  a  "  sacrifice,^''  Avhich,  though  "  unwor- 
thy, through  their  manifold  sins,  to  offer,"  they  yet 
humbly  present  in  their  capacity,  described  in  the  Gos- 
pel, as  "  a  holy  priesthood,  to  offer  up  spiritual  sacri- 
fices, acceptable  to  God  by  Jesus  Christ.''''  All  these 
things  may  safely  be  called  sacrifices  here,  for  the  rea- 
son before  stated  ;  but  the  Lord's  Supper  itself  may  not 
be  even  called  a  sacrifice,  lest,  as  before  urged,  the  very 
word  deceive.  Not  once,  therefore,  does  our  commu- 
nion office  apply  this  term  to  the  Supper  itself.  It  calls 
the  ordinance  by  various  other  names ;  as,  "  holy  mys- 

*  Homily  of  the  worthy  receiving  and  reverent  esteeming  of  the  Sacra- 
ment of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ,  N.  Y.,  1813,  p.  376. 


328      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

teries,"  "pledges  of  His  love,"  "a  continual  remem- 
brance of  His  death,"  "  the  memorial"  which  the  "Son 
hath  commanded  us  to  make,"  and  "  the  banquet  of  a 
most  heavenly  food  5"  and,  in  doing  so,  it  misleads  no 
one ;  but  not  once  does  it  call  this  Supper  a  sacrifice. 
Our  Church  has  proved  too  faithful  a  follower,  both  of 
the  letter  and  of  the  spirit  of  that  Word,  of  which  she  is 
both  a  "  witness  and  a  keeper,"  to  be  guilty  of  so  dan- 
gerous a  use  of  language. 

The  same  silence  on  this  point  which  characterizes 
the  communion  office  is  distinctive  of  the  Catechism 
also,  and  the  Articles  ;  in  neither  of  which  is  this  Supper 
once  called  a  sacrifice. 

How  the  Homily  guards  against  the  use  of  this  term, 
and  for  what  reason,  we  have  already  seen.  To  the  lan- 
guage then  quoted,  however,  the  following  may  be  add- 
ed :  "  Herein"  (in  the  Lord's  Supper)  "  thou  needest  no 
other  man's  help  ;  no  other  sacrifice  or  oblation  j  no  sacri- 
ficing priest,  no  mass,  no  means  established  by  man's 
invention."  And  this  is  the  more  significant,  in  that  it 
is  spoken  immediately  after  a  reference  to  the  necessi- 
ty of  "a  sure  and  constant yazifA"  in  the  great  truth  that 
Christ  "  hath  made  upon  His  Cross  a  full  and  sufficient 
sacrifice"  for  every  individual  communicant  ;  a  faith 
which  is  called  a  "  sticking  fast  to  Chv'\sVs promise  made 
in  his  Institution,  to  make"  himself  the  believer's  "  own,^^ 
and  to  "  apply  His  merits'''  unto  the  believer's  "  self .''''* 
This  language  is  addressed  to  the  communicant  in  the 
second  person,  and  holds  up  before  him  the  one  sacri- 
fice on  the  cross  as  full  and  sufficient ;  to  be  received 
through  faith  in  that  promise,  by  which  Christ  makes 
Himself  the  Christian's  own,  and  applies  His  merits  to 
him ;  and  to  be  thus  received  to  the  exclusion  of  all 
"  other  sacrifice,  oblation,  and  sacrificing  priest.^''  The 
♦  Homily  on  the  Sacrament,  N.  Y.,  1815,  p.  379. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      329 

phraseology  is  discriminating;  it  does  not  say  that,  in 
the  Lord's  Supper,  "  the  hands  of  the  minister  convey'''' 
the  very  hody  and  blood  of  Christ,  to  be  received  by 
the  communicant  "  at  the  same  time,  and  together  with 
their  signs  ;"  but  it  teaches  that  in  this  Supper  Christ 
makes  himself  the  Christian's  "  own,''''  his  own  Savior  ; 
and  applies  to  him,  not  his  jiesh,  but  "  his  merits  ;"  and 
that  this  is  done  in  such  a  way  as  to  shut  out  from  the 
sacrament  the  idea  of  any  other  priest  or  sacrifice  than 
Christ  himself,  and  His  oblation  on  the  cross. 

The  great  Hooker  caught  the  true  spirit  of  the  Hom- 
ily on  this  point  when  he  said,  "  Sacrifice  is  now  no  part 
of  the  Church  ministry ;"  and  when  he  added,  "  The 
word  presbyter  doth  seem  more  fit,  and  in  propriety  of 
speech  more  agreeable  than  priest,  with  the  drift  of  the 
whole  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ." 

(2.)  But  the  mischievousness  of  this  notion  of  a  sac- 
rifice in  the  Lord's  Supper  will  appear  more  distinctly 
when  I  add,  that  the  second  offspring  of  the  error  touch- 
ing Christ's  bodily  presence  in  the  Eucharist,  is  seen  in 
Transubstantiation  itself. 

This  is  that  monstrous  conception  and  birth  in  which 
is  imbodied  not  only  the  idea  that  there  is  a  real  pres- 
ence of  the  flesh  and  blood  of  Christ  in  the  Eucharist, 
but  also  the  progeny  of  that  idea,  that  the  very  sub- 
stance of  the  bread  and  wine  is  changed,  so  that  they 
are  bread  and  wine  no  longer,  but  the  visible  and  sensi- 
ble flesh  and  blood  themselves  of  a  crucified  Savior, 
seen  and  eaten  under  the  mere  "  species''''  or  appearance 
of  the  bread  and  wine.  The  hideous  features  of  this 
monster-birth  I  will  not  attempt  to  paint.  It  is  enough 
to  say,  and  to  show,  that  it  sprang  directly  from  the 
doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence,  as  its  parent.  It  is  noth- 
ing more  than  the  legitimate  offspring  of  that  parent. 

To  say  this  requires  but  a  sentence.  To  show  it  re- 
E  e2 


330      THE  NATURE  OP  THE  LOEd's  SUPPER. 

quires  but  little  more.  To  whatever  age  the  origin  of 
transubstantiation  be  referred,  whether  to  that  of  Par- 
rhasius  Radbertus,*  in  the  9th  century,  or  to  that  of  In- 
nocent III.  and  the  4th  Lateran  Council,  in  the  13th,  or 
to  any  age  earlier  or  intermediate,  one  thing  is  certain, 
it  must  be  traced  to  the  doctrine  of  the  real  presence 
of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  in  the  Eucharist,  un- 
derstood in  the  most  literal  sense  of  the  terms.  Other 
origin  than  this  the  monster  conception  of  transubstan- 
tiation could  not  have  had.  Had  not  the  notion  of  a 
real  presence,  carrying  with  it  the  literal  substantiality 
of  flesh  and  blood,  been  in  full  possession  of  the  minds 
which  controlled  the  theology  of  the  Church,  transub- 
stantiation never  would,  and,  speaking  in  the  light  of 
moral  probabilities,  never  could  have  been  conceived  in 
human  thought.  And  it  is  equally  true,  that,  having  ob- 
tained full  possession  of  those  controlling  minds,  and, 
through  them,  of  the  major  mass  of  those  who  necessa- 
rily read  little,  and  ordinarily  think  less,  this  notion  of 
a  literal  real  presence — speaking  in  the  light  of  the  same 
probabilities — could  not  but  work  itself  out  in  due  time 
into  an  alleged  metamorphosis  of  the  bread  and  wine 
into  the  very  substance  of  the  flesh  and  blood  of  Christ. 
The  idea  of  a  literal  real  presence  is  one  of  those  con- 
ceptions which  necessarily  put  the  human  mind  into  a 
ferment;  one  of  those  marvelously  strange  things, 
which,  when  thrown  among  the  mass  of  men's  thoughts, 
act  with  the  power  of  a  moral  earthquake,  putting  ev- 
ery thing  around  into  the  agitation  of  a  heaving,  work- 
inor  motion.  In  the  case  of  this  particular  idea,  the  fer- 
ment into  which  it  put  the  mind  of  the  Church  was 
made  up,  in  part,  of  a  struggle  to  throw  off'  something 
repugnant  both  to  sense  and  to  reason  ;  and,  in  part,  of 
a  diseased  eagerness  to  seize  upon  something  gratify- 
*  Usually  written,  Paschasius  Radbertus. 


THE  NATURE  OP  THE  LORD's  SUPPER.      331 

ing  to  that  sensuous  philosophy  of  the  natural  heart 
which  delights  even  in  the  strange  imagery  that  fills 
the  inner  chambers  of  superstition.  In  others  words,  it 
was  a  ferment  made  up  of  an  effort  to  reject  what  both 
sense  and  reason  condemned,  and  of  an  eagerness  to 
seize  on  what  met  the  askings  of  the  natural  heart, 
trained  to  superstition,  and  delighting  in  a  religion 
which  powerfully  addresses  the  senses^  and  keeps  stir- 
ringly alive  the  emotions  of  thrilling  wonder,  and  the 
workings  of  excited  imagination.  These  latter  elements 
obtained  the  mastery  in  the  ferment ;  and  hence  the  doc- 
trine of  a  literally  real  presence  in  the  Eucharist  became 
prolific.  Transubstantiation  had  both  birth  and  baptism, 
and  in  due  time  was  brought  forth  to  final  confirmation. 
The  steps  in  this  process,  so  far  as  they  can  be  traced, 
appear  to  be  as  follows. 

In  the  ninth  century,  the  ferment  which  seems  to  have 
been  produced  by  the  doctrine  of  a  literally  real  pres- 
ence, led  Radbertus  to  the  attempt  to  satisfy  the  uneasi- 
ness which  was  felt,  and  to  settle  the  controversy  which 
it  kept  alive,  by  explaining  the  nature  and  manner  of 
that  presence.  Accordingly,  he  first  put  the  doctrine 
into  this  new  form  :  that,  "after  the  consecration  of  the 
bread  and  wine  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  nothing  remained 
of  these  symbols  but  the  outward  figure  under  which 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  were  really  and  locally 
present ;  and  that  the  body  of  Christ,  thus  present  in  the 
Eucharist,  was  the  same  body  that  was  born  of  the  Vir- 
gin, that  suffered  on  the  cross,  and  was  raised  from  the 
dead."*  This  was  the  birth  of  transubstantiation.  Pre- 
viously, but  its  embryo  had  been  in  being.     At  its  first 

*  The  words  of  Radbert  in  his  book,  "  De  Corpore  et  Sanguine  Domini," 
are  these  :  "  Licet  figura  panis  et  vini  hie  sit,  omnino  nihil  aliud  qiiam  caro 
et  sanguis  post  consecrationem  credenda  sunt — nee  alia  quam  quas  nataest 
de  Maria,  passa  in  cruce,  resurrexit  de  sepulchre ;  et  hsec,  inquam,  ipsa 
est,  et  ideo  Christi  caro  est,  quae  pro  vita  mundi  adhuc  hodie  offertur." 


332      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

appearance,  many  were  amazed  at  the  new  shape  ;  still, 
the  energies  which  had  given  it  birth  sufficed  to  cherish 
it  into  growth.  For  a  long  time,  however,  it  lived  a 
mere  birth  ;  growing,  indeed,  yet  without  a  name. 

The  period  during  which  the  new  form  of  the  doc- 
trine, as  put  forth  by  Radbertus,  lived  thus  unnamed, 
reached  from  the  9th  to  the  13ih  century ;  and,  as  the 
doctrine  itself  was  yet  without  the  sanction  of  any  coun- 
cil or  decree  of  the  Church,  instead  of  silencing,  it  rath- 
er stimulated  controversy ;  for  men  were  yet  at  liberty 
to  form  and  express  private  opinions,  even  though 
counter  to  those  which,  on  the  whole,  imbodied  the 
mind  of  the  Church.  But  this  period  of  comparative 
liberty  at  length  drew  to  a  close.  Early  in  the  13th 
century  was  held  the  fourth  Council  of  the  Lateran,  and 
Innocent  III.,  with  the  reckless  audacity  that  character- 
ized him,  strangled  all  discussion  of  this  point  by  pro- 
nouncing the  opinion  of  Radbertus,  as  it  had  grown  in 
strength  and  shape,  to  be  the  only  true  and  orthodox 
faith  on  the  subject  of  Christ's  presence  in  the  Eucha- 
rist ;  and  not  only  so,  but  also  by  giving  the  doctrine, 
what  it  had  hitherto  wanted,  a  name.  That  was  the  bap- 
tism of  transubstantiation  j  and  by  this  name  the  doc- 
trine has  ever  since  been  known,  as  the  only  tolerated 
faith  of  the  Church  of  Rome  on  this  point. 

And  yet,  though  discussion  on  this  subject  was  stran- 
gled, the  minds  of  men  were  not  in  all  cases  chained. 
The  prodigy  which  had  thus  been  nurtured  tovvard  ma- 
turity was  far  from  inertness.  It  brought  forth  early 
and  prodigious  corruptions  on  every  hand ;  till,  at  last, 
the  deep  and  powerful,  though  silent  workings,  which 
were  stirring  in  the  minds  of  men  could  be  repressed 
no  longer.  The  ever-glorious  Reformation  burst  forth, 
mingling  awful  thunders  with  the  light  in  which  it 
dawned,  and  shaking  terribly  the  nations  which  it  was 


THE  NATURE  OP  THE  LORD  S  SUPPER.      333 

destined  to  bless.  Startled  by  the  shock,  Rome  at 
length  summoned  her  famed  Council  of  Trent;  and 
there,  in  the  16th  century,  not  only  adopted  anew  the 
dogma  of  transubstantiation,  but  also  bound  it  on  the 
consciences  of  all  her  subjects,  under  the  terrors  of  an 
anathema  which  consigns  to  endless  torments  all  who 
dare  gainsay  her  decree !  That  was  the  confirmation  of 
the  now  mature  child  in  the  church  by  which  it  was 
bred.  In  the  strength  thus  given  it,  it  has  already  trai- 
torously chained,  and  will,  at  last,  resistlessly  destroy, 
the  parent  that  gave  it  being.  It  took  Rome  seven  hun- 
dred years  to  train  the  great  apostate  from  birth  to  full 
communion.  It  may  not  take  her  giant  offspring  so  long 
to  do  the  matricidal  work  for  which,  with  such  mistaken 
fondness,  it  has  been  trained. 

I  have  thus  traced  transubstantiation  from  its  unques- 
tionable parentage,  the  doctrine  of  a  literally  real  pres- 
ence of  the  flesh  and  blood  of  Christ  in  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per. It  could  have  had  no  other  parentage.  The  sim- 
ple words  of  Christ,  "This  is  my  body;  this  is  my 
blood,"  interpreted  by  the  laws  of  His  own  language, 
as  synonymous  with  the  expressions,  "  This  represents 
my  body  ;  this  represents  my  blood,"  in  which  sense 
they  were  undoubtedly  understood  by  those  first  disci- 
ples who,  under  the  guidance  of  inspiration,  afterward 
called  the  institution  by  the  unpretending  names  of  the 
"  breaking  of  bread,"  the  "  Lord's  Supper,"  the  "  Lord's 
Table  ;"  those  words  of  Christ,  thus  naturally  and  right- 
ly understood,  never  could  have  suggested  the  unnatural 
conceptions  in  which  Radbertus  imbodied  the  Romish 
doctrine  of  the  Eucharist,  ^ges  of  corrupting  igno- 
rance and  superstition,  brought  in  upon  the  Church  by 
mixture  with  the  philosophy  and  the  fooleries  of  sur- 
rounding paganism,  must  have  gradually  perverted  and 
transformed  the  simple  and  beautiful  memorial  which 


334      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORD  3  SUPPER. 

Christ  left  of  himself  in  the  Church,  till  finally  it  be- 
canne  the  alleged  mystery  and  miracle  of  His  literal 
flesh  and  blood,  before  even  those  mediaeval  minds,  so 
strangely  trained  to  the  subtleties  of  the  schools,  could 
have  conceived  the  monstrously  unnatural  thought  that, 
by  the  priestly  words  of  consecration,  what  had  just 
been  mere  natural  bread  and  wine,  became  forthwith  the 
very  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  which  the  Son  of  God 
took  of  the  Virgin,  carried  to  the  cross,  and  finally 
raised  from  the  dead  ;  retaining,  in  this  their  awful 
presence,  the  mere  species,  or  appearance,  of  the  sub- 
stances whose  place  they  had  taken  !  This  conception, 
I  repeat,  never  could  have  originated  in  the  simple 
and  easily-understood  words  of  Christ.  Eight  hundred 
years  of  change  and  of  gradual  depravation  must  have 
brought  in  the  frightfully  prolific  error  of  the  real  pres- 
ence,  before  even  the  spoiled  mind  of  man,  whetted  to 
acuteness  in  the  most  egregious  subtleties,  and  driven, 
by  still  uneasy  common  sense,  to  its  last  shift  in  main- 
taining its  strange  intellectual  progeny,  could  have  ex- 
cogitated such  an  unnatural,  such  a  pernicious  dogma 
as  that  finally  baptized  transubstantiation  ;  a  dogma,  in 
defending  and  enforcing  which,  Rome  has  filled  the  na- 
tions with  more  of  error,  corruption,  change,  and  blood- 
shed than  have  ever  flowed  from  any  other  single  cause. 
Why  did  not  the  Jews  get  a  similar  doctrine  of  tran- 
substantiation from  the  similar  words  of  the  inspired 
Moses,  "This  is  the  Lord's  Passover  1"  Because  they 
understood  the  idiom  of  their  own  yet  living  language ; 
and  because,  so  long  as  that  idiom  was  alive,  even  their 
1500  years  of  mingled  change  and  error  could  not 
breed  subtlety  enough  in  their  schoolmen  to  misinter- 
pret the  simple  phrase.  For  the  same  reason,  the 
words  of  Jesus  could  not  have  been  perverted,  while  as 
yet  his  living  language  and  its  obvious  idiom  survived. 


THE    NATURE    OF   THE    LORd's   SUPPER.  335 

The  loss  of  that  language,  with  its  idiom,  from  the 
Church,  by  the  dispersion  of  the  Jews,  the  growing  cor- 
ruptions of  the  old  Greek  and  Latin  tongues  during  the 
decline  of  the  Empire,  the  ripened  subtleties  of  the 
Oriental  philosophy  caught  into  the  theories  and  schools 
of  the  Church,  and  the  consequently  increasing  impu- 
rity of  her  whole  system  of  both  faith  and  practice — 
these  things  alone  gan  account  for  the  surprising  facts, 
first,  of  the  succession  of  the  doctrine  of  the  real  preS' 
ence  to  that  of  the  New  Testament  breaking  of  bread  in 
memory  of  Christ ;  and,  finally,  of  the  coming  in  of  the 
dogma  of  transubstantiation  as  the  full  development  of 
that  of  the  real  presence. 

But  why  dwell  so  strenuously  on  a  position  which  is 
too  plain  to  be  denied'?  I  answer,  because  I  wish  to 
bring  fully  before  the  mind  of  our  Church  both  the  na- 
ture and  the  peril  of  that  doctrine  of  the  real  presence 
which  is  now  so  industriously  taught  to  her  members. 
Under  our  last  general  head  of  discourse,  we  noticed  an 
attempt  to  explain  this  doctrine,  as  if  it  were  something 
not  only  harmless,  but  Scriptural  5  while,  at  the  same 
time,  we  saw  that  the  explanation  did  but  cover  the  real 
features  of  the  doctrine  from  view,  as  though  the  time 
had  not  then  come,  among  us,  for  fully  drawing  the  veil 
aside.  That  time,  however,  has  since  arrived  ;  and  that 
veil,  though  perhaps  unintentionally,  has  been  since 
removed.  One  of  the  principal  authors  to  whom  I  have 
heretofore  referred  has,  I  think,  made  it  too  evident  to 
be  longer  concealed,  that  what  they  mean  by  their  doc- 
trine of  a  real  presence,  is  nothing  less  and  nothing 
other  than  that  parent  error,  which  was  in  the  bosom 
of  the  Church  in  the  ninth  century,  when  Radbertus 
gave  birth  to  the  monstrous  conception  of  a  change  in 
the  elements  of  bread  and  wine  ;  a  change  by  which 
their  substance  no  longer  remained,  but  gave  place,  un- 


S36      THE  NATURE  OP  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

der  their  mf.re  species,  to  that  very  flesh  and  blood  of 
Christ  which  was  then  held  to  be  present  in  the  Eucha- 
rist 5  a  change,  too,  to  which  Rome  has  since  done  lit- 
tle more  than  officially  to  give  it  nurture  and  a  name. 
This  author  tells  us  that  what  he  and  his  co-authors  in- 
sist upon  is,  as  they  term  it,  that  very  Catholic  doctrine 
of  the  real  presence,  which  was  in  the  Church  before 
the  attempt  was  made  to  explain  it  by  the  theory  of 
transubstantiation  ;  and  which  has  ever  since  been  in 
the  Church,  though  under  the  cover  of  that  wicked  de- 
vice.    The  following  is  the  language  which  he  uses: 

"  We  do  not  yield  to  the  Romanists,  as  to  the  great- 
ness of  our  privileges  5  we  do  not  think  that  our  Lord 
is  less  really  and  spiritually  present  than  they  ;  that  He 
communicates  Himself  less  by  His  sacraments  than 
they  ;  that  we  less  receive  His  hody  and  blood ;  that  our 
sinful  bodies  are  less  cleansed  by  His  glorious  body,^^  &c. 
Again  :  "  We  do  not  believe  '  This  is  my  body'  less  than 
they  ;  we  blame  them,  not  as  exceeding  as  to  the  great- 
ness of  the  spiritual  gift  contained  in  that  sacrament 
(all  human  language  and  thoughts  must  fall  short),  but 
for  their  carnal  conceptions  of  it ;  for  attempting  to  ex- 
plain to  man's  senses  the  mode  of  his  Savior's  presence  ; 
for  trying  to  solve  the  apparent  contradiction  that  the 
elements  are  still  what  they  were,  but  are,  over  and 
above,  to  us  the  body  and  blood  of  our  Lord  ;  for  long- 
ing, with  the  weak  faith  of  Nicodemus,  to  know  the 
how  of  things  Divine  and  spiritual ;  and  so,  for  debasing 
them,  and,  by  their  explanations,  leading  at  least  their 
priesthood  to  pride,  and  then  to  unbelief."* 

Again  :  "  Our  Church,  as  holding  the  original  Catho- 
lic truth,  of  which  the  corruptions  of  Rome  are  the  de- 
basement, appears  to  me  yet  farther  removed  from 
those  modern  traditions,  the  inventions  of  men  who 

*  Dr.  Pusey's  Letter  to  the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  N.  Y.,  1839,  p.  87,  88. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER       337 

deny  the  truth.     Rome,  in  this  respect,  has  the  truth, 
though  mingled  with  error,  and  clouded  and  injured  by- 
it  J  the  ZHingli-Calvinist  school  have  forfeited  it.     In  a 
word,  our  Church  holds,  with  Rome,  the  reality  of  the 
communication  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  through 
the  Holy  Eucharist,  but  denies  her  carnal  way  of  ex- 
plaining it,  and  protests  against  the  corruptions  thereby 
entailed  5  but,  in  what  Rome  retains  in  truth,  she"  (our 
Church)  "  must  needs  hold  with  her  against  those  who, 
explaining  to  human  reason  Divine  mysteries,  can  not 
but  explain  away  what  is  mysterious,  and  resolve  the 
hidden  gifts  of  the  sacrament  into  aids  of  contempla- 
tion, outward  attestations  of  God's  gifts,  exhibitions  to 
our  outward  senses,  mere  remembrances  of  His  death."* 
That  is,  in  the  matter  of  this  sacrament,  these  au- 
thors being  judges,  our  Church  is  nearer  Rome  than  she 
is  to  the  Continental  Protestants.   She  holds,  with  Rome, 
the  real  presence  of  Christ  in  the  Eucharist,  in  the  full 
signification  and  alleged  efficacy  of  that  presence.    She 
holds  that  her  members  receive  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  as  really  as  the  members  of  the  Church  of  Rome 
are  held  to  receive  them  j  and  that  we  receive  i\\e  savie 
body  and  blood   which  they  receive.     In   short,   she 
blames  nothing  in  the  view  which  Rome  takes  of  this 
mystery,  but  her  carnal  way  of  explaining  the  mode  of 
Christ's  presence,  and  the  corruptions  entailed  by  that 
carnal  explanation.     Drop  this  explanation  ;  throw  away 
the  name  transubstantiation  5  leave  the  doctrine  of  the 
real  presence  as  it  was  when  Radbertus  undertook  "to 
solve  the  apparent  contradiction"  which  it  involves ; 
and,  these  authors  being  judges,  our  Church  would  have 
no  farther  fault  to  find  with  the  views  of  Rome  on  this 
great  point. 

Here,  at  least,  is  no   concealment.     These  writers 

*  Dr.  Ptisey's  Letter  to  the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  N.  Y.,  1839,  p.  97. 

Ff 


338  THE    NATURE    OF    THE   LORd's   SUPPEK, 

hold  the  doctrine  of  the  real  presence,  as  Kome  holers 
it.  They  only  object  to  her  mode  of  explaining  it,  and 
to  the  consequences  thereby  entailed.  Yet  Rome  gets 
her  doctrine  of  the  real  presence,  not,  as  has  been  in- 
contestably  shown,  from  the  Bible  interpreted  by  the 
idiom  of  Christ's  own  language,  but  from  the  corrup- 
tions of  a  far  later  age  j  an  age  in  which  pure  Christian- 
ity had  degenerated  into  a  religion  o(  forms,  addressed 
strikingly  to  the  senses,  and  operating  powerfully  on 
the  imagination.  In  that  age,  the  great  parent  error  of  the 
Church,  the  notion  of  the  real  presence,  grew  up  ;  and 
all  that  has  since  followed  has  been  but  the  legitimate 
offspring  of  that  parent. 

This  it  is  which  makes  me  so  strenuous  on  the  pres- 
ent point.  Mankind  have  not  yet  been  redeemed  frorti 
a  strong  native  bondage  to  both  their  senses  and  their 
imagination  ;  nor  has  human  nature  yet  lost  its  prone- 
ness  to  superstition  ;  nor  yet  has  the  natural  heart  lost 
its  fondness  for  a  religion  of  mere  forms ;  a  religion 
which  appeals  luxuriously  to  the  senses,  and  plays  de- 
liciously  with  the  imagination  ;  and  which  carries  with 
it  so  much  that  is  imposing  and  solemn  in  its  ritual,  as 
easily  to  satisfy  beings  who  would  gladly  have  some  re- 
ligion, though  not  prone  to  one  which  requires  the  la- 
bor of  thought,  and  the  mortification  of  real  deadness 
to  sin  and  the  world.  Under  this  constitution  of  our 
fallen  and  depraved  nature,  could  we  suppose  the  past 
history  of  Christianity,  since  the  days  of  Radbertus  and 
the  opening  of  the  ninth  century,  blotted  out ;  and  the 
Church,  from  that  point,  beginning  her  course  anew, 
with  her  great  parent  error  of  the  real  presence  already 
conceived  of  foregone  corruptions,  and  fashioned  mere- 
ly into  the  form  under  which  it  was  then  held  ;  or,  could 
we  suppose  this  error  now  for  the  first  time  conceived, 
distinctly  fashioned,  and  made  the  prevalent  and  deep- 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      339 

seated  opinion  of  the  great  body  of  Christians  ;  and  the 
Church  now  beginning  to  move  forward  on  her  way  as 
one  great  whole,  nursing  this  prolific  conception  in  her 
bosom,  fostering  it  as  her  grand  thought,  defending  it 
against  opponents,  and  vindicating  it  by  her  authority — 
I  can  have  no  doubt  of  the  issue  which  would  be  produ- 
ced :  the  living  error  could  not  be  confined  to  its  mere 
conception ;  it  would  ask  expression,  and  it  would  have 
expression  j  it  would  struggle  for  the  birth,  and  it  would 
have  birth ;  another  Radbert  would  bring  it  into  utter- 
ance and  shape  ;  another  Innocent  would  adopt  and  name 
it  by  authority  ;  and  another  Council  of  Trent,  in  order 
to  hush  the  remonstrances  of  reason,  and  the  protest- 
ings  of  the  senses,  would  bind  it  on  the  consciences  of 
benighted  men,  under  pain  of  eternal  torments  !  The 
process,  after  its  first  conception,  was  natural,  was  un- 
avoidable ;  and,  instead  of  blaming  Rome  for  bringing 
it  to  its  issue,  we  should  rather  go  back,  search  for  the 
origin  of  the  conception  itself,  and  there  seek  to  expel 
from  the  Church  the  great  parent  of  all  this  progeny  of 
errors,  by  showing  that  the  doctrine  of  the  real  pres- 
ence is  not  wrapped  up  in  the  simple  words  of  Christ, 
but  was  bred  amid  the  multiplying  corruptions  of  a  far 
later  age. 

But,  even  supposing  that  the  error  of  the  real  pres- 
ence were  not  (though,  undoubtedly,  it  is)  so  vitally 
polific  as  to  force  all  the  prodigious  births  which  have 
followed  it ;  who,  I  pray,  that  has  any  just  appreciation 
of  the  Gospel,  and  of  the  preciousness  of  its  great  sal- 
vation through  faith  in  Christ,  and  the  renewing  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  would  be  willing  to  take  the  Church  in  the 
ninth  century  as  their  pattern  of  faith  and  practice  in 
the  matter  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  run  the  fearful 
hazards  of  carrying  such  a  live  error  in  their  creed, 
struggling  continually  to  multiply  itself,  and  kept  from 


340  THE    NATURE    OF    THE    LOUD  ri    SUPPER. 

self-multiplication  by  nothing  but  apparent  accident ; 
while,  at  the  same  time,  its  own  unmultiplied  energies 
were  sufficient  to  infect  the  whole  body  of  associated 
truth,  and  to  place  the  religion  of  the  Church  but  at  a 
slioht  remove  from  corruptions  of  the  grossest  charac- 
ter 1  Such,  however,  is  the  peril  into  which  we  are 
now  running,  and  which  we  shall  inevitably  realize,  if 
the  notion,  now  beginning  to  prevail,  of  the  real  pres- 
ence of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  in  the  sacrament, 
should  ever  become  the  thoroughly  adopted,  and  the 
generally,  as  well  as  heartily  defended  doctrine  of  our 
own  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  Naj^,  greater  peril 
than  this  will  be  ours,  if  the  error,  which  we  are  asked 
to  embrace,  should  become  general ;  for  it  is  vitally 
prolific,  and  can  not  be  kept  from  self-multiplication. 
Long  ages,  indeed,  might  be  required  in  training  its 
progeny  to  maturity  ;  but  those  ages  would  again  come 
round,  and  we  should  find  ourselves,  in  our  posterity, 
returned  and  clasped  to  the  very  bosom  of  those  deep 
corruptions  from  which,  in  our  ancestors,  at  the  period 
of  the  blessed  Reformation,  we  broke  and  fled  away 
with  horror  ! 

(3.)  After  having  dwelt  thus  long  upon  the  character 
of  the  first  two  offspring  of  the  doctrine  of  a  literally 
real  presence  in  the  Eucharist,  I  shall,  without  attempt- 
ing to  name  all  their  kindred,  draw  this  part  of  my 
subject  to  a  close,  with  a  brief  reference  to  two  of  the 
most  conspicuous  which  remain  :  the  traffic  in  masses, 
and  the  worship  of  the  Host. 

The  traffic  in  masses  sprang  naturally  from  the  idea  of 
a  sacrifice  for  the  remission  of  sins,  both  of  the  living 
and  of  the  dead,  as  brought  into  the  sacrament  by  the 
doctrine  of  the  real  presence.  If  there  be  such  a  sacri- 
fice in  the  sacrament,  and  if  the  pardon  of  sin  be  con- 
veyed in  its  reception,  then,  what  more  natural  than  for 


THE    NATURE    OF    THE    LORd's    SUPPER.  341 

poor  darkened  sinners  to  seek  the  benefit  at  any  ex- 
pense ;  and  to  seek  it  thus  for  the  quicker  release  from 
purgatorial  pains  of  the  baptized  dead,  as  well  as  for  the 
greater  ease  in  their  sins  of  the  baptized  living"?  The 
purchase  of  salvation  is  the  very  idea  which,  of  all 
others,  suits  best  the  pride  of  the  natural  heart ;  and  all 
history,  Pagan  as  well  as  Christian,  teaches  that  men 
can  be  made  willing,  yea,  glad  to  part  with  the  richest 
patrimonies,  and  to  make  themselves  miserable  mendi- 
cants, under  the  delusive  dream  of  thereby  meriting 
and  purchasing  the  salvation  of  their  souls.  Thus  the 
traffic  in  masses  was  introduced  ;  and  thus  the  Church 
found  herself  in  possession  of  a  means  of  amassing 
wealth,  which,  had  not  the  Reformation  in  a  measure 
broken  up  that  traffic,  would  have  speedily  brought  her 
into  the  splendid  peril  of  literally  "  gaining  the  whole 
world,  and  losing  thereby  her  own  soul !"  This  peril 
may  now  never  be  realized ;  and  yet,  even  the  notion 
of  a  sacrifice  in  the  Eucharist  for  the  pardon  of  sin,  as 
now  gaining  sanction  among  us,  may,  if  sufficiently  fos- 
tered and  patronized,  become  the  means  of  bringing 
into  our  Church  an  amount  of  riches  which  would  make 
her  virtually  one  of  the  kingdoms  of  this  world,  in  dead- 
ly conflict  with  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  the  temporal- 
ly poor  and  unportioned  Jesus. 

"  The  worship  of  the  Host,^^  that  is,  the  adoration  of 
the  elements  in  their  supposed  transubstantiated  state, 
as  the  very  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  elevated  with  aw- 
ful solemnity  in  view  of  prostrate  multitudes,  sprang,  of 
course,  directly  from  transubstantiation  itself,  as  the 
traffic  in  masses  did  from  the  doctrine  of  sacrifice. 
The  impulse  to  worship,  in  deep  prostration,  the  sup- 
posed present  and  visible  Deity,  was  at  least  natural. 
But  over  this  amazing  issue  of  the  corruptions  bred  by 
the  error  of  a  literally  real  presence  of  Christ's  body 
Ff  2 


342      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

and  blood  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  I  am  willingly  forced, 
by  the  limits  assigned  to  the  discussion,  to  throw  a  veil. 
I  will  only  say  that,  for  overpowering  splendor  and 
magnificence,  and  for  awful  impressiveness  and  effect, 
the  elevation  and  worship  of  the  Host  is  a  show  which 
casts  the  greatest  brilliancy  of  imperial  pomp  into 
shade ;  that,  for  deep  impiety  and  blasphemy,  it  is  a 
ceremony  which  outvies  the  rankest  and  the  tallest 
idolatry  of  paganism  itself;  and  that,  as  the  unquestion- 
able product  of  the  error  which  we  have  been  consider- 
ing, it  shows,  perhaps  more  plainly  and  strikingly  than 
any  thing  else,  the  essentially  vital  and  irrepressibly 
prolific  energy  with  which  that  error  has  wrought  on 
the  human  mind,  and  with  which,  wherever  cherished, 
it  ever  will  work. 

The  notion  of  a  literally  real  presence  of  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ  in  the  elements  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, leads  to  the  multiplication  of  error  just  as  naturally 
and  as  necessarily  as  sin  leads  to  the  multiplication  of 
evils  in  the  moral  disease  of  our  nature.  Were  it  not 
that  the  light  of  the  Bible  has  probably  become  too 
strong  in  our  Protestant  Church  ever  to  be  again  en- 
tirely put  out,  this  doctrine,  fully  adopted  and  thor- 
oughly cherished,  would  rapidly  carry  us  back  to  the 
very  darkness  from  which  we  have  emerged.  And 
even  now,  blessed  as  this  Church  is  with  light,  that  doc- 
trine is  capable  of  wrapping  the  "deceitful  and  desper- 
ately wicked  hearts"  of  men  in  a  darkness  as  fatally,  if 
not  as  literally  profound,  as  that  of  the  Middle  Ages 
themselves.  Hence  it  is  that  men,  otherwise  intelli- 
gent and  wise,  and  even  amiable  and  virtuous,  are  found 
yielding  to  the  approaches  of  an  error,  the  form  of 
which,  in  the  dimness  and  shadowyness  of  their  relig- 
ious conceptions,  they  do  not  distinctly  recognize,  or 
the  imposing  impressiveness  of  which,  in  its  address  to 


THE   NATURE    OF  THE    LORD  S    SUPPER.  343 

their  senses,  takes  well  with  their  love  of  a  religion 
which,  dispensing  with  the  labor  of  thought  and  with 
the  necessity  of  a  real  and  utter  deadness  to  sin  and 
the  world,  gives  them  up  to  impulse,  and  to  the  dreamy- 
luxury  of  wondering  imagination. 

One  of  the  most  dangerous  aspects  of  this  error,  as 
now  presented  to  us,  is,  that  it  is,  ybr  the  present^  asso- 
ciated with  much  sound  and  wholesome  truth — truth 
earnestly  held  and  fervently  told  j  and  with  much  appa- 
rent, and,  doubtless,  real  purity  and  austerity  of  charac- 
ter in  its  principal  teachers.  Its  advantages  for  self-prop- 
agation are  hence  easily  apparent,  and  our  obligations 
to  guard  against  its  spread  are  immensely  increased. 
The  most  fatal  seductions  from  the  way  of  truth  and 
life  may  have  their  beginnings  amid  a  real  increase  of 
zeal  and  devotedness  to  some  of  the  minor  things  of 
religion,  especially  when  outward  circumstances  favor 
a  backward  movement  from  the  restless  activities  and 
the  sometimes  apparent  changefulness  of  the  public 
mind,  stimulated  by  the  spirit  of  intense  inquiry,  and 
heaving  amid  the  throes  of  incessant  progress. 


344  THE    NATURE    OF    THE    LORd's    SUPPER. 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE    NATURE    OF    THE    LORd's    SUPPER. 

1  Cor.,  si.,  23-26  :  "  23.  For  I  have  received  of  the  Lord  that  which  also  I 
delivered  unto  you.  That  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  same  night  in  which  he  was 
betrayed,  took  bread :  21.  And  when  he  had  given  thanks,  he  brake  it,  and 
said,  '  Take,  eat :  this  is  my  body,  which  is  broken  for  you :  this  do  in  re- 
membrance of  me.'  25.  After  the  same  manner  also  h€  took  the  cup,  when 
he  had  supped,  saying,  '  This  cup  is  the  new  testament  in  my  blood  :  this 
do  ye,  as  oft  as  ye  drink  it,  in  remembrance  of  me.'  26.  For  as  often  as 
ye  eat  this  bread,  and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do  show  the  Lord's  death  till  he 
come." 

The  various  passages  in  the  New  Testament  which  in 
any  way  touch  upon  the  nature  of  the  Lord's  Supper  have 
already  been  examined.  In  v.'hat  I  have  thus  far  said,  my 
object  has  been  to  refute  an  erroneous  view  of  this  point, 
rather  than  fully  to  exhibit  the  tnie  one.  This,  however, 
may  easily  be  gathered  from  what  has  been  advanced. 
For,  if  the  interpretations  which  have  been  given  to  the 
language  of  Christ,  in  the  sixth  of  John,  and  in  His  insti- 
tuting words  themselves,  be  correct,  they  not  only  refute 
the  error  which  has  been  exhibited,  but  also  throw  a  dis- 
tinctly guiding  light  upon  the  only  remaining  question. 
What  is  the  true  nature  of  the  Lord's  Supper  ?  The  an- 
swer to  this  question  I  shall  now,  as  was  in  the  fourth  and 
last  place  proposed,  proceed  to  educe  from  the  Bible,  and 
from  the  language  of  our  Church. 

IV.  By  way  of  introducing  this  answer,  I  recur  for  a  mo- 
ment to  the  principal  points  established  by  the  interpreta- 
tions to  which  I  have  referred.  According  to  those  inter- 
pretations, the  language  of  Christ  in  the  sixth  of  John,  in 
which,  after  having  fed  the  five  thousand.  He  speaks  of 
"  giving  His  flesh  for  the  life  of  the  world,"  and  of  our 
"  eating  His  flesh  and  drinking  His  blood,"  refers,  not  ta 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      345 

the  sacrament,  nor  to  sacramental  eating  and  drinking,  but 
to  Himself,  as  the  only  atoning  Savior ;  and  yet  without 
any  allusion  to  the  act  of  crucifixion  as  that  in  which  His 
atonement  was  to  be  consummated.  It  also  refers  to  our 
reception  of  Him  as  such  an  atoning  Savior ;  which  recep- 
tion He  himself  explains  as  "  coming  to  Him,"  "  believing 
on  Him,"  and  "  seei7ig  the  Son"  with  the  true  spiritual  dis- 
cernment of  those  who  are  "  taught  of  God,"  and  who  thus 
"  learn"  and  are  "  drawn"  of  "  the  Father."  In  short,  that  lan- 
guage of  Christ  refers  to  Himself,  as  the  only  atoning  Sav- 
ior, and  to  that  great  deciding  transaction  between  the  soul 
and  God,  in  which  the  penitent  sinner,  in  the  secrets  of  his 
own  mind,  is  taught  and  drawn  by  the  Spirit  in  the  use  of 
truth ;  and  in  wliich,  thus  taught  and  drawn,  he  voluntarily 
yields  his  heart  to  Christ,  and  receives  Him  by  faith  as  his 
only,  all-sufficient,  and  life-giving  Savior ;  a  transaction 
which  lies  at  the  very  begiiniing  of  the  true,  inward  Christ- 
ian life,  and  which,  in  the  case  of  every  rml  Christian, 
precedes,  or  should  precede,  his  first  sacraiijciiUtl  commem- 
oration of  his  Savior's  death. 

Again :  according  to  those  interpretations,  the  words  of 
Christ,  in  instituting  His  Supper,  teach,  not  the  real,  bodily 
presence  of  Christ  in  the  elements  of  the  sacred  feast,  but 
the  symbolic  and  representative  character  of  those  elements, 
and  of  the  ordinance  in  which  they  are  used.  They  are, 
in  truth,  exactly  equivalent  to  this  expression,  which  I  give 
again,  as  a  fair  paraphrase  of  His  words,  and  of  the  apos- 
tle's brief  comment  on  them :  *•  Take,  eat  and  drink  this 
bread  and  this  wine  ;  they  represent  my  body  and  my  blood, 
which,  according  to  the  tenor  of  the  new  covenant,  are 
given  in  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  world :  eat  and  drink 
thus  in  memory  of  me."  "  For  as  often  as  ye  do  this,  ye 
celebrate  the  Lord's  death  ;  a  celebration  which  is  to  be  per- 
petuated till  the  period  of  His  final  coming." 

The  ground  of  these  interpretations  has  been  stated  at 


346      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

sufficient  length,  and  I  humbly  venture  to  think  it  wholly 
unassailable. 

1.  What,  then,  is  the  view  which  they  give  of  the  prima- 
ry nature  of  this  Christian  ordinance  ?  Bring  together,  as 
thus  interpreted,  the  only  expressions  which  bear  on  this 
question.  "  Take,  eat  this  bread ;  it  represents  my  body." 
"  Drink  ye  all  of  this  cup ;  it  represents  my  blood."  "  Do 
this  in  meinory  of  me."  "  As  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread  and 
drink  this  cup,  ye  do  celebrate  the  Lord's  death."  In  what 
light  do  these  expressions  place  the  nature  of  this  sacra- 
ment ?  It  is  a  light  which  shines  with  broad  and  resistless 
demonstration  on  this  conclusion — that,  in  the  primary,  most 
obvious  attribute  of  its  nature,  the  Lord's  Supper  is  a  divine- 
\y-ordained,  and  di\ine]y-obligatory  memorial  of  the  death 
of  Christ  for  the  sins  of  the  world.  The  breaking  of  the 
bread  and  the  pouring  of  the  wine  represent  the  fact  and 
the  manner  of  that  death  ;  Christians  partake  of  the  bread 
and  the  wine  in  memory  of  Him  who  died  for  their  sins  : 
as  often  as  they  do  so,  they  celebrate,  or  proclaim  the  fact 
of  His  death  and  sacrifice  ;  and  to  a  perpetuation  of  this 
memorial  they  are  individually  bound  by  the  command  of 
Him  who  is  Lord  both  of  death  and  of  life. 

In  answer  to  the  question,  then,  I  repeat,  in  the  primary, 
most  obvious  attribute  of  its  nature,  the  Lord's  Supper  is  a 
divinely-obligatory  memorial,  and  the  Christian's  reception 
of  it  is  a  divinely-obligatory  commemoration  of  that  solemn 
act  in  which  our  blessed  Redeemer  gave  His  body  and  His 
blood  on  the  cross  as  an  atoning  sacrifice  for  sin.  This  is 
the  most  palpable  meaning  of  all  that  He  said  at  the  time 
of  the  institution,  as  recorded  by  the  three  evangelists,  one 
of  whom  was  His  eye  and  ear  witness,  while  the  other  two 
are  His  inspired  historians.  This,  in  like  manner,  is  the 
most  palpable  meaning  of  what  He  said  after  His  ascension 
into  heaven,  when  He  specially  revealed  the  instituting 
words  to  the  great  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  as  recorded  in 


THE    NATURE    OF   THE    LORd's    SUPPER.  347 

his  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  It  is  worthy  of  obser 
vation,  that  both  at  the  original  institution,  and  at  the  sub- 
sequent revelation  of  the  instituting  words,  He  not  only  said 
the  same  things  in  the  main,  but  also  so  spake,  on  both  oc- 
casions, as  to  leave  the  memorial  character  of  the  institu- 
tion its  most  observable  feature  ;  to  show  that  His  leading 
purpose  in  ordaining  His  sacred  Supper  was,  to  leave  in 
His  Church  a  standing  and  an  imperishable  monument  of 
that  solemn  act  for  which  He  came  down  from  heaven — 
the  act  of  making  Himself"  the  Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh 
away  the  sin  of  the  world ;"  and  to  leave  such  a  monument 
as  a  ^a^/ierm^-point,  around  which,  till  His  coming  again, 
His  faithful  disciples  should  statedly  assemble  for  social 
"  communion,'^  or  ^'■fellotoship"  in  the  love  and  blessings  of 
the  Gospel. 

Much  is  said,  in  the  writings  to  which  I  have  so  often 
referred  in  this  discussion,  about  the  deep  and  awful  myste- 
ry involved  in  the  nature  of  this  ordinance.  Nor  do  I  wish 
to  detract  from  its  true  character  as  one  of  the  great  Christ- 
ian mysteries.  But,  then,  it  may  be  a  mystery  without  be- 
ing incomprehensible.  In  the  New  Testament,  this  word 
has  several  senses,  subordinate,  indeed,  to  one  general  sense. 
Its  general  sense  is  that  of  something  "  shut  up,""  secret.  In 
its  subordinate  senses,  it  means,  1.  Something  thus  secret, 
because  it  cafi  not  be  known  ;  because  it  is,  in  its  very  na- 
ture, incomprehensible.  Such  is  "  the  mystery  of  God, 
even  of  the  Father  and  of  Christ"  (Col.,  ii.,  2),  called  else- 
where "  the  mystery  of  godliness,  God  manifest  in  the 
flesh"  (1  Tim.,  iii.,  16)  ;  the  absolutely  inscrutable  union 
of  the  Father  and  of  Christ ;  the  literally  incomprehensible 
mystery  of  the  incarnation  of  God.  2.  Something  secret, 
because  not  revealed ;  though,  when  revealed,  easily  com- 
prehended. Such  was  "  the  mystery  kept  secret  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  world,  but  made  manifest  when  Christ  came 
and  revealed  it ;  namely,  that  His  Gospel  should  be  preached 


348  THE    NATURE    OF    THE    LORd's    SUPPER, 

to  ^'' all  natio7i.s,"  Gentiles  as  well  as  Jetvs. — Rom.,  xvi.,  25, 
26.  Eph.,  iii.,  3-6,  and  9.  Col,  i.,  26,  27 ;  iv.,  3,  4.  3. 
Something  intentionally  kept  from  connnon  knowledge  or 
profane  use  ;  something  sacred  to  the  saints,  though  not  ne- 
cessarily difficult  to  be  understood.  Such  were  "  the  mys- 
teries of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  which,  in  the  plain  teach- 
ings of  Christ,  it  was  "  given"  to  the  disciples  "  to  hioivj" 
but  which  were  designedly  concealed  from  the  perverse 
Jews  by  the  veils  o(  parable. — Matt.,  xiii.,  10,  11. 

Now,  in  this  last  sense,  the  Christian  sacraments  are 
doubtless  mysteries.  They  are  sacred  and  richly  significant 
symbols,  designedly  kept  from  common  and  profane  use  ; 
pledges  of  love  reserved  as  the  exclusive  privileges  of  the 
people  of  God  ;  holy  things,  not  to  be  handled  by  the  wick- 
ed, ordinarily  not  even  understood  by  them  ;  and  yet  not 
difficult  of  understanding  to  those  who  desire  to  know  and 
enjoy  them.  And,  in  this  sense,  they  are  doubtless  includ- 
ed among  the  truths  of  the  Gospel,  in  what  the  apostle 
says  to  the  Corinthians,  when  characterizing  "  the  ministers 
of  Christ"  "  stewards  of  the  mysteries  of  God."  I  say  the 
sacraments  are  here  included  among  the  truths  of  the  Gos- 
pel, because  these  sacraments  evidendy  do  not  comprise 
the  whole  of  those  "  mysteries,"  of  which  Christ^s  ministers 
are  constituted  "  stewards^  These  mysteries  embrace 
every  thing  with  which  those  ministers  are  intrusted,  and 
primarily,  without  doubt,  those  rich,  though  in  the  main  in- 
telligible, truths  of  the  Gospel  which  it  is  their  chief  office 
to  unfold  to  the  Church  and  to  the  world.  Such  being  the 
case,  there  is  no  more  reason  for  supposing  the  sacraments 
of  the  Church  to  involve  incomprehensible  mysteries  than 
there  is  for  supposing  that  the  ordinary  truths  of  the  Gospel 
involve  incomprehensible  mysteries.  Some  of  the  truths 
of  the  Gospel  are,  indeed,  incomprehensible,  absolutely  so, 
to  finite  minds.  Such  are  the  truths  of  the  Trinity,  and  of 
the  incarnation.     Others  of  them  are  so,  in  the  sense  of  be- 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      349 

ing  unfathomable  by  the  line  of  our  understanding,  though 
we  can  fathom  them  to  great  depths,  and  find  them  beauti- 
fully clear  and  comprehensible  as  far  down  as  that  line  will 
reach.  Such  are  the  truths  of  the  atonement,  and  of  election, 
o{free-2vilI,  and  of  a  particular  providence.  But,  then,  many 
others  of  the  truths  of  the  Gospel  are  not  only  partially,  but 
also  wholly  intelligible  ;  clear  as  light,  and  bringing  objects 
before  our  minds  in  full  distinctness  and  beauty ;  and  yet 
these,  as  well  as  the  others,  are  included  among  "  the  mys' 
ieries  of  God,"  of  which  the  "  ministers  of  Christ"  are 
"  stewards." 

In  the  light  of  what  has  now  been  said,  place  the  mys- 
tery of  the  Lord's  Supper.  The  truth  of  the  atonement,  as 
one  of  the  principal  to  which  it  points,  is  mysterious  in  one 
of  the  senses  just  indicated.  That  is,  though  we  can  see  a 
great  way  into  it,  and  see  it  so  far  gloriously  clear  and  com- 
prehensible, yet  we  can  not  see  to  the  bottom  of  it.  Even 
this  character,  however,  of  the  great  truth  exhibited  does 
not  make  the  Lord's  Supper  itself  a  mystery  in  the  sense 
of  being  an  incomprehensible  thing.  Were  the  grand  truth 
which  it  exhibits  absolutely  incomprehensible,  this  would 
not  make  the  sacrament  itself  incomprehensible.  Ksymhol 
may  be  a  very  intelligible  thing,  even  though  that  of  which 
it  is  a  symbol  were  absolutely  beyond  the  grasp  of  under- 
standing ;  much  more  so  when  the  thing  symbolized  is,  to  a 
great  extent,  beautifully  and  blessedly  intelligible.  Such  is 
the  case  with  the  Lord's  Supper.  It  is  a  mystery,  a  glorious 
mystery,  as  one  of  the  holy  things  intrusted  to  the  steward- 
ship of  Christ's  ministers ;  as  one  of  those  Divine  symbols 
designedly  kept  sacred  to  the  saints ;  as  one  of  those  con- 
secrated emblems  which  are  not  to  be  touched  and  handled 
by  profane  and  wicked  hands.  It  is  a  richly  significant 
and  a  preciously  valuable  thing ;  and  yet  it  is,  in  its  prima- 
ry and  most  obvious  meaning,  a  thing  clearly  and  beautiful- 
ly intelligible.  The  plain  design  of  Christ  on  "  the  night 
Gg 


350      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

in  which  He  was  betrayed"  was,  to  leave  among  his  disci- 
ples an  affecting  memorial  of  his  expiatory  sufferings  and 
death,  a  memorial  never  to  be  forgotten,  and  never  to  be 
looked  on  without  -under standingly  recalling  both  the  event 
itself,  and  the  vital  meaning  of  the  event  which  it  was  or- 
dained to  commemorate.  It  is  not  a  mystery,  in  the  sense 
of  imbodying  that  awful  and  incomprehensible  secret  of  the 
real  presence  of  Christ's  body  and  blood  which,  in  a  sort  of 
miraculously  mechanical  way,  we  know  not  how,  develops 
the  previously-communicated  Divine  nature  within  us.  Nor 
is  it  a  mystery  in  the  sense  of  furnishing  an  impenetrable 
cover  for  holding  in  "  reserve''''  the  great  doctrine  of  atone- 
ment, as  something  which  was  designed  to  be  exhibited  but 
sparingly  to  the  common  gaze.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  a 
symbol  designed  to  hold  that  truth  up  in  its  most  affecting 
light,  and  to  exhibit  it  in  its  most  touching  power.  The 
elements  themselves  in  the  symbol,  the  bread  broken  and 
the  wine  poured  out  by  Christ's  command,  represent  His 
atoning  sacrifice  offered,  once  for  all,  upon  the  cross.  And 
the  Christian's  reception  of  those  consecrated  elements  rep- 
resents his  own  act  in  receiving  the  atonement,  in  feeding 
on  Christ  by  faith,  in  believing  on  Him  as  the  Son  of  God, 
the  Savior  of  lost  men  ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  it  consti- 
tutes his  affectionate  commemoration  of  that  "  precious 
death,"  through  which  he  ventures  to  hope  for  life.  In  all 
this,  however  much  there  may  be  that  is  unsearchable  in  the 
love  that  is  commemorated,  there  is  nothing  incomprehensi- 
ble in  the  memorial  by  which  that  love  is  kept  in  mind.  It 
is  a  rich  mystery,  as  holding  up  the  most  affecting  of  truths 
in  a  light  the  most  beautiful,  and  as  presenting  us  with  a 
privilege  kept  sacred  to  the  children  of  God  ;  but,  as  Christ's 
institution,  kept  alive  by  the  Christian's  observance,  it  is  a 
luminously  intelligible  ordinance. 

On  the  character  of  the  Lord's  Supper  as  a  memorial  of 
His  death  and  passion,  our  office  for  the  communion  is  in 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.     351 

full  accord  with  the  language  of  Christ.     Let  us  for  a  mo- 
ment look  at  this  point.     In  the  notice  given  of  the  cele- 
bration of  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  officiator  proposes  "  to 
administer  the  most  comfortable  sacrament  of  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ ;  to  be  received  in  remembrance  of  His  meri» 
torious  cross  and  passion,  whereby  alone  we  obtain  remission 
of  our  sins,  and  are  made  partakers  of  the  kingdom  of  heav- 
en."    This  passage  is  valuable,  not  only  as  showing  that 
the  institution  is  a  memorial^  but  also  as  virtually  contradict- 
ing the  dogma  formerly  noticed,  that  this  sacrament  conveys 
remission  of  post-baptismal  sins.     "  We  obtain  remission 
of  our  sins,"  not  by  receiving  the  Lord's  Supper,  but  by 
Christ's  "  meritorious  cross  and  passion  alone  ,"  and  our  re- 
ception of  this  Supper  is  but  a  "  remembrance,^''  a  memorial 
of  that  precious  sacrifice.     Again,  in  the  exhortation  at  the 
time  of  the  celebration,  occurs  this  language  :   "  And  to  the 
end  that  we  should  always  remember  the  exceeding  great 
love  of  our  Master  and  only  Savior,  Jesus  Christ,  thus  dy- 
ing for  us,  and  the  innumerable  benefits  which,  by  His  pre- 
cious bloodshedding.  He  hath  obtained  for  us,  He  hath  in- 
stituted and   ordained   holy  mysteries,   as  pledges  of  His 
love,  and  for  a  continual  remembrance  of  His  death,  to  our 
great  and  endless  comfort."     Here  we  see,  distinctly,  that 
the    design    of  Christ's  "  precious  bloodshedding"  was  to 
"obtain  for  us  innumerable  benefits;"  while  "iAe  end"  for 
which   the   Holy   Supper   was    instituted,   was   to  furnish 
"pledges  of  His  love,  for  a  continual  remembrance,"  a  per- 
petual memorial,  "  of  His  death."     Again,  in  the  prayer  of 
consecration,  after  an  adoring  reference  to  God's  "tender 
mercy  in  giving  His  only  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  to  suffer  death 
upon  the  cross  for  our  redemption,"  it  is  added,  that  Christ 
"  did  institute,  and  in  His  Holy  Gospel  command  us  to  con- 
tinue a  perpetual  memory  of  that  His  precious  death  and 
sacrifice."     Here  the  same  distinction  is  kept  up  ;  Christ's 
sacrifice  on  the  cross,  our  only  hope  of  eternal  life ;  His 


352      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

Holy  Supper,  the  great  memorial  of  that  sacrifice.  So,  in 
the  same  prayer,  when  we  come  to  the  oblation,  and  to  the 
doing  of  what  Christ  requires  of  us  in  the  ordinance,  we 
have  this  language  :  "  According  to  the  institution  of  thy 
dearly  beloved  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  we,  thy  humble  servants, 
do  celebrate  and  make,  here  before  thy  Divine  Majesty, 
with  these  thy  holy  gifts,  which  we  now  offer  unto  thee, 
the  memorial  thy  Son  hath  commanded  us  to  make  ;  having 
in  re7nembrance  His  blessed  passion  and  precious  death." 
Here,  to  make  our  act  accord  with  Christ's  institution, 
nothing  is  specified  but  the  offering  up  of  the  great  memo- 
rial of  what  Christ  has  done  upon  the  cross  for  our  redemp- 
tion. Once  more,  in  the  actual  delivery  of  the  consecrated 
elements  to  the  recipient,  putting  the  two  sentences  into 
one  for  brevity's  sake,  we  have  these  important  words : 
"  The  body  and  blood  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which 
were  given  and  shed  for  thee,  preserve  thy  body  and  soul 
unto  everlasting  life.  Take,  eat  and  drink  these  in  remem. 
brance  that  Christ  died,  and  that  his  blood  was  shed,  for 
thee ;  and  feed  on  Him  in  thy  heart  by  faith,  with  thanks- 
giving." The  importance  of  these  words  will  appear  in 
paraphrasing  them  according  to  the  two  theories  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  which  have  been  exhibited.  The  theory 
which  includes  the  doctrine  of  the  real  presence  would  be 
obliged  to  paraphrase  them  thus  : 

"  As  Christ's  authorized  minister,  and  by  his  mysterious 
power,  I  '  convey'  to  thee  by  these  '  hands'  and  '  together 
with  these  signs,'  the  flesh  and  blood  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  which  were  given  and  shed  for  thee,  and  which  are 
here  'in  continuance'  still  given  and  shed.  Preserve  they 
thy  body  and  soul  unto  everlasting  life,  by  becoming  '  com- 
mingled and  co-united'  with  both,  making  them  'one  sub- 
stance with  Him,'  and  '  preserving  both  for  incorruption.' 
Eat  and  drink  these  signs,  together  with  the  awful  myste- 
ries which  they  signify,  in  remembrance  that  Christ  died 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      353 

for  thee,  and  that  His  blood  was  shed  for  thee  ;  and  feed 
on  Him  in  thy  heart  by  faith  with  thanksgiving." 

Between  the  latter  and  the  former  part  of  this  paraphrase 
there  is,  indeed,  an  apparent  discrepancy,  since  it  represents 
the  communicant  as  receiving  the  sacred  emblems  in  memory 
of  what  is  present.  Still,  it  is  the  only  paraphrase  that  I  am 
able  to  draw  from  the  language  which  I  have  from  time  to 
time  quoted,  and  in  which  the  theory  of  the  real  presence 
is  stated  in  the  words  of  its  own  advocates.  The  theory 
which  I  am  engaged  in  exhibiting,  and  which  rejects  the 
doctrine  of  the  real  presence  in  the  sense  set  forth,  is  bound 
to  give  a  different  paraphrase  of  the  sentence  ;  thus  : 

"  Appointed  to  minister  in  the  name  and  Gospel  of  our 
blessed  Redeemer,  I  devoutly  and  fervently  pray  that  the 
body  and  blood  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  were  given 
and  shed  for  thee,  may  preserve  thy  body  and  soul  unto 
everlasting  life,  by  being  made  to  thee  the  meritorious  cause 
of  a  free  remission  of  sin,  and  of  a  future  resurrection  from 
the  dead.  Take,  eat  and  drink  these  consecrated  symbols 
of  His  great  sacrifice  and  salvation,  as  the  appointed  memo- 
rial of  His  death  and  bloodshedding ;  and  feed  on  Him  in 
thy  heart  hy  faith,  with  thanksgiving." 

I  am  not  here  engaged  in  the  argument  against  the  doc- 
trine of  the  real  presence  ;  and  yet  it  is  impossible,  1  think, 
to  look  upon  these  two  paraphrases  of  the  words  of  our 
communion  service  at  the  delivery  of  the  elements,  without 
seeing  that  they  imbody  an  argument  of  most  cogent  power 
against  that  doctrine,  and  in  favor  of  the  view  which  I  have 
begun  to  present.  Both  here,  and  in  the  previous  quota- 
tions from  the  communion  service,  we  see  the  vital  distinc- 
tion preserved  between  Christ's  meritorious  sacrifice  on  the 
cross,  and  the  intelligible  memorial  of  it  which  He  has  or- 
dained for  our  observance  in  the  Church  ;  while  here,  with 
even  unusual  distinctness,  the  nature  of  our  act  in  keeping 
the  memorial  is  set  forth  as  a  "  feeding  on  Him  in  the  heart 
G  G  2 


354  THE    NATURE    OF    THE   LORDS    SUPPER. 

by  faith"  in  the  heart,  with  fervent  love  in  return  for  His 
love  unquenchable  :  by  faith,  with  a  helicving  appropriation 
of  that  sacrifice  on  the  cross  to  which  his  love  hath  prompt- 
ed. 

Which  looks  most  like  the  Gospel,  the  attitude  assumed 
by  the  minister  in  the  former  of  the  paraphrases  which  I 
have  given,  or  that  assumed  by  him  in  the  latter  of  those 
paraphrases  ?  In  xhe  former,  he  stands  up  as  one  "  intrusted 
with  the  awful  gift  of  making  the  bread  and  wine  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ ;"  and,  having  exercised  his  gift,  pro- 
ceeds to  "  convey"  with  his  "  hands"  the  sign  and  the  thing 
signified  as  that  unutterable  mystery  which,  by  co-union 
with  the  body  and  soul  of  the  recipient,  is  to  "  preserve 
both  for  incorruption"  and  everlasting  life.  In  the  latter, 
he  appears  as  the  servant  of  Christ,  commissioned  to  minis- 
ter for  Him  in  the  Word,  in  prayer,  and  in  ordinances ;  and 
having  set  apart  the  appointed  elements  to  the  sacred  office 
of  representing,  in  a  Divine  symbol,  the  atoning  sacrifice  ot 
Christ  on  the  cross,  proceeds  to  deliver  them  to  his  fellow- 
Christians,  with  the  fervent  petition  that  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ,  which  they  represent,  being  received  in  faith  and 
with  love,  may  insure  to  his  body  a  resurrection,  and  to  his 
soul  a  redemption,  unto  life  eternal. 

Which  of  these  attitudes  is  scriptural?  Which  is  con- 
ceived in  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel  ?  Would  not  any  serious- 
ly intelligent  student  of  the  Bible,  who  was,  at  the  same 
time,  a  careful  observer  of  his  own  nature,  feel  that  the 
former  attitude  belongs  to  a  religion  which  addresses  itself 
with  thrilling  energy  to  the  senses  and  the  imagination  ;  to 
all  the  strong,  inborn  tendencies  of  man  to  superstition  and 
a  perilous  reliance  upon  forms ;  a  religion  which  proposes 
to  do  its  work  by  mysteries  operating  upon  awed  and  pros- 
trate minds,  and  encouraging  a  passive  reception,  in  which 
thought  lies  still  amid  the  excitement  of  the  senses,  and  the 
overmastering  of  wonder ;  a  religion,  in  a  word,  which  tends 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORD  S  SUPPER.      355 

to  exalt  its  minister  into  the  rank  of  an  almost  superhuman 
caste,  and  to  depress  its  subjects  to  the  level  of  beings  who 
bow  with  unquestioning  submission  to  mere  authority  and 
to  overpowering  prerogative  ?  And  would  not  such  an  ob- 
server feel  that  the  latter  attitude  belongs  to  a  religion 
which  addresses  itself  with  instructive  power  to  the  affec- 
tion and  the  faith,  in  combination  with  the  reason  and  the 
understanding  of  the  Christian,  to  all  that  is  capable  in 
man  of  being  raised  into  a  worship  full  of  love  and  of  light ; 
a  religion  which,  by  the  hand  of  intelligible  symbols,  leads 
the  mind  away  to  glorious  acts  and  glorious  truths  sym- 
bolized, and  there,  through  a  teaching  memorial,  wakens 
thought,  and  kindles  meditation,  and  calls  up  the  whole  mind 
to  the  activity  of  grasping,  embracing,  and  feeling  the  work 
and  the  power  of  Christ's  divinely  rational,  though  fathom- 
less love ;  a  religion,  in  short,  which  shows  its  minister, 
though  in  the  midst  of  unusually  holy  things,  still  intelligent- 
ly exhibiting  the  one  Gospel  of  our  salvation,  and  its  sub- 
jects, though  receiving  an  unusually  solemn  ministry,  yet 
receiving  it  into  earnest  minds  as  well  as  into  yielding 
hearts,  and  voluntarily  co-operating  with  the  power  of  Di- 
rine  grace,  as  well  as  reverently  honoring  the  claims  of 
that  Divine  commission  under  which  this  grace  is  prof- 
fered 1 

Such  appears  to  be  the  difference  between  the  tendency 
of  this  sacrament  when  considered  as  involving  the  perplex- 
ing mystery  of  the  real  presence,  and  its  tendency  when 
considered  as  imbodying  the  intelligible  mystery  o.f  a  memo- 
rial of  Christ's  atoning  sacrifice  on  the  cross. 

But  let  us  look  a  moment  at  the  reasons  why  Christ  left 
such  a  memorial  in  His  Church,  and  why  He  gave  its  char- 
acter, as  a  memorial,  such  prominence  in  his  instituting 
words. 

As  the  Son  of  the  Father,  Christ  came  into  the  world, 
and  mysteriously  took  upon  him  our  nature,  for  the  purpose 


356      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORD's  SUPPER. 

of  representing  in  that  mystery  the  reconciliation  of  man 
with  his  offended  God ;  and  of  consummating  that  work  of 
atonement  by  sacrifice,  through  which  this  reunion  was  to 
be  effected.  He  also  came  to  teach  that  Divine  system  of 
truth  and  doctrine  which  is  involved  in  the  work  of  atone- 
ment, and  to  organize  that  simple  and  decent  body  of  rites 
which  should  be  appropriate  to  the  Church  of  God  in  pass- 
ing from  a  dispensation  of  shadows  to  a  dispensation  of 
light.  Having  effected  these  objects,  He  returned  to  the 
Father ;  and  there,  in  the  presence  of  the  heavenly  hosts, 
exhibited,  in  the  union  of  his  glorified  humanity  with  the 
ever-glorious  Divinity,  what  the  eye  of  heaven  had  never 
before  beheld — a  living  symbol  of  that  splendid  result  which 
He  went  to  achieve — the  reconciliation  of  rebellious  man 
with  his  offended,  though  forgiving  God. 

But  before  He  finally  took  his  departure  from  our  world, 
He  was  specially  careful  to  do  something  to  comfort  and 
support  his  disciples,  and  after  them  his  whole  Church, 
imder  his  long  hodily  absence.  Bodily,  he  was  to  be  pres- 
ent with  them  no  longer,  at  least  till  the  time  of  His  sec- 
ond advent.  In  the  work  of  spreading  His  Gospel,  they 
were  to  labor  without  his  personal  and  bodily  presence, 
though  encompassed  by  a  hating  and  a  hostile  world.  They 
needed,  therefore,  something  to  cheer  and  sustain  them  in 
their  perilous  toils,  and  under  their  painful  privation.  This 
need  he  graciously  supplied  ;  and  how  ?  In  the  first  place, 
just  on  the  eve  of  His  departure,  He  revealed  to  them  those 
great  and  glorious  truths  which  had  been  before  but  little 
the  subject  of  his  teachings,  such  as  His  own  essential 
oneness  with  the  Father,  and  their  spiritual  union  with 
Himself;  His  purpose  to  prepare  for  them  heavenly  man- 
sions in  their  Father's  house ;  and,  finally,  to  receive  them 
to  a  participation  of  His  own  glory  with  the  Father ;  the 
certainty  that  their  prayers,  offered  in  His  name,  should  be 
ansv.'ered ;  and  that  their  efforts  in  gathering  His  fold  from 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORD's  SUPPER.      357 

the  world  should  be  crowned  with  success  ;  a  manifestation 
of  Himself  to  them,  which  the  world  could  not  comprehend, 
and  in  which  the  world  should  have  no  share  ;  and  the  joint 
dwelling  of  the  Father  and  the  Son  in  their  hearts  as  a 
token  of  favor  to  those  who  should  keep  his  commandments, 
and  as  realized  in  the  sweet  comforts  of  mutual  love  be- 
tween Him  and  His  obedient  disciples ;  the  precious  leg- 
acy  of  His  own  Divine,  inwai'd,  heartfelt  jjeace,  as  that  which 
the  world  could  neither  give  nor  take  away;  and,  finally, 
as  a  mightily  compensating  substitute  for  Himself  during 
His  long  bodily  absence,  the  coming  of  the  gracious  Com- 
forter, the  Spirit  of  Truth  from  the  Father,  to  guide  them 
into  all  truth,  to  glorify  Him,  and  to  work  mightily  in  their 
labors  for  the  conquest  of  the  world. — John,  xiv.,  xv.,  xvi., 
xvii. 

Having  thus  revealed  to  them  these  cheering,  comforting, 
sustaining  truths  of  doctrine  and  of  promise,  he  proceeded 
to  leave  them  one  thing  more,  which  had  a  still  more  special 
reference  to  His  own  approaching  hodi/y  absence.  And 
what  was  this  ?  Did  He,  as  the  theory  of  the  real  presence 
shapes  the  idea,  leave  His  sacraments,  as  the  instruments 
of  perpetuating  in  the  Church  a  miraculous  incarnation  of 
Himsef;  so  that,  though  absent  to  sight,  He  would  still  be 
present  in  substance  ?  Did  He  thus  leave  His  Church  an 
actual  incarnation  of  Himself,  in  a  new  form;  a  living  body 
endowed,  once  for  all,  with  the  full  gift  of  the  Spirit  from 
Himself,  and  clothed,  once  for  all,  with  the  sole  prerogative 
and  power  of  communicating  both  Himself  and  His  Spirit  in 
a  perpetual  succession  to  those  who  were  to  become  His 
people  ?  Such  a  shaping  of  the  theory  could  come  from  no 
other  source  than  that  which  produced  the  first  conception 
of  the  real  presence ;  the  workings  of  sense  and  imagina- 
tion under  the  sombre  power  of  old  superstition,  seeking  to 
defend  against  reasoning  remonstrance,  and  to  entail  on  un- 
questioning credulity  the  monstrous  birth  of  which  it  had 


358      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORDS  SUPPER. 

become  the  parent.  It  is  a  shape  of  the  theory  which  could 
never  have  come  from  the  Bible.  Christ  spake  in  good 
faith  when  He  proclaimed  to  His  disciples  His  approaching 
departure  from  the  world,  and  return  to  the  Father ;  a  de- 
parture, in  consequence  of  which  "  they  should  see  Him  no 
more,"  because  bodily  He  was  to  be  with  ihem  no  longer 
till  His  coming  again.  "  I  go  to  my  Father,"  says  He, 
"  and  ye  see  me  no  more."  "  And  now  /  am  no  more  in  the 
world ;  but  these  are  in  the  world,  and  /  come  to  thee. 
Holy  Father,  keep  through  thine  own  name  those  whom 
thou  hast  given  me,  that  they  may  be  one,  as  we  are. 
While  I  was  with  them  in  the  world,  I  kept  them  in  thy 
name."  "  And  now  /  come  to  thee,''  Sic.  There  was,  it  is 
true,  a  sense  in  which  they  still  "  saw  Him,"  even  after  His 
departure.  It  was  that  sense  in  which  "the  world  saw 
Him  not ;"  because  it  loved  Him  not,  and  kept  not  His  com- 
mandments,  as  they  did.  They  saw  Him,  because  He  lived; 
and  because  they  lived  also  a  spiritual  life  capable  of  loving 
Him  and  obeying  Him,  and  thus  of  enjoying  inward  tokens 
of  His  spiritual  presence.  But  bodily,  they  saw  Him  not, 
after  His  departure,  simply  because,  in  honest  truth,  bodily 
He  was  no  more  in  the  world.  In  every  sense  which  these 
words  could  cover,  He  was  withdrawn  from  the  world  ;  and 
the  Spirit  came,  another  Comforter,  in  His  stead.  Nothing 
but  the  perverting  power  of  a  mighty  error  could  extract 
from  the  Scriptures  the  idea  that,  after  His  visible  with- 
drawal, Christ  still  left  Himself  incarnate,  under  another 
form,  in  the  body  of  His  Church  ;  empowering  this  Church 
once  for  all,  to  dispense  and  communicate  Himself  and  His 
Spirit  solely  through  the  sources  of  her  living  and  quicken 
ing  sacraments  !  Besides,  the  mischiefs  of  this  theory,  as  an 
exhaustless  fountain  of  corruption,  and  as  the  broad  base  ol 
an  intolerable  spiritual  despotism,  are  absolutely  incalcu- 
lable ! 

What,  then,  was  that  one  thing  more  which  He  left  with 


THE    NATURE    OF    THE    LORd's    SUPPER.  359 

His  disciples  in  addition  to  tlie  promised  Coniforter,  and 
which  had  a  still  more  special  reference  to  His  own  entire 
bodily  absence  ?  It  was  that  very  memorial  of  Himself 
which  we  are  considering,  His  last  Sup'per ;  that  divinely 
significant  representation  of  the  sublime  act,  in  which  His 
whole  work  of  redemption  was  about  to  close.  His  body, 
spiritualized  and  glorified,  was  about  to  ascend  into  heaven, 
never  more  to  reside  substantially  with  His  Church,  till  the 
period  of  His  second  coming,  or  till  His  Church  herself 
should  come  to  dwell  personally  with  Him  on  high.  But, 
in  place  thereof,  He  left  them  this  precious  memorial  of 
Himself;  this  divinely-instituted  symbol  of  His  body  and 
blood,  as  that  body  and  blood  were  exhibited  in  His  last 
wondrous  office  in  the  work  of  their  redemption.  He  did 
not  leave  His  body  to  reside  unseen  in  the  present  memorial ; 
but  He  left  the  memorial  to  represent  to  sight  His  absent 
body.  He  left,  not  Himself  in  the  memorial,  but  a  memorial 
of  Himself. 

In  doing  this,  too,  He  acted  with  a  plain  and  wise  refer- 
ence to  one  of  the  most  deep-laid,  and  certainly  operative 
principles  of  our  nature  ;  that  by  which  love  seeks  to  keep 
the  absent  in  mind,  and  to  preserve  mutual  affection  alive,  by 
asking,  or  by  giving  tokens  of  love,  pledges  of  affection.  He 
performed  an  act  which  every  spiritually-enlightened  fol- 
lower would  be  sure  to  understand  and  feel.  He  knew  that, 
whenever  and  wherever  the  light  of  His  Gospel  shone  pure- 
ly, the  memorial-token  which  He  left,  as  often  as  it  should 
be  brought  forth  and  exhibited  amid  the  solemnities  of  His 
worship,  would  bring  the  absent  Savior  to  mind  with  un- 
wonted vividness,  and  thus  prove  a  sweet  quickener  of  His 
disciples'  love  ;  that  it  would  be  the  gathering-point  of  their 
freshly-awakened  affections  ;  the  sacred  pledge,  around 
which  their  holiest  feelings  would  cluster  and  mingle,  and 
glow  and  burn,  as  thpy  realized  with  freshened  vividness 
the  beauties  and  the  glories  of  His  once  marred,  but  now 


360  THE    NATURE    OF    THE    LORD  S    SUPPER. 

radiant  form,  in  connection  with  the  work  of  their  own  won- 
drous redemption.  Hence  His  repeated  precept,  "  Do  this 
in  remembrance  of  me."  And  hence  His  apostle's  comment, 
"  As  often  as  ye  eat  this  hread  and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do 
show  the  Lord's  death  till  He  come." 

In  the  leading  and  most  obvious  feature  of  its  nature, 
then,  this  ordinance  is  love's  memorial  of  the  bodily  ab- 
sent Jesus,  and  of  that  work  of  conquering  mercy  in  which 
He  achieved  upon  the  cross  the  salvation  of  sinners.  And 
the  beautiful  wisdom  of  such  an  ordinance  is  clearly  mani- 
fest, when  we  consider  the  essential  spirit  and  glory  of 
that  religion  which  Christ  came  to  teach  and  to  exemplify. 
What  is  that  spirit  ?  Open  the  Bible,  and  its  light  flashes 
from  every  page — the  spirit  of  holy  love.  This  brought 
Christ  from  heaven.  This  lived  and  struggled,  acted  and 
suffered  in  all  He  said,  in  all  He  did  on  earth.  This  makes 
the  groans,  and  the  darkness,  and  the  mysteries  of  Calvary 
vocal  with  sweet  sounds,  and  radiant  with  soft  lights,  and 
clear  in  a  Divine  meaning.  This  knits  His  true  disciples 
into  one  living  body,  full  of  the  sweet  peace  of  heaven. 
And  this,  when  perfected,  is  to  be  the  secret  of  their  all- 
conquering  power  over  the  enmity,  the  hostility,  and  the 
persecutions  of  a  wicked  world  ;  love,  that  godlike  temper, 
which  will  never  refuse  to  act,  to  sacrifice,  or  to  suffer,  in 
the  work  of  promoting  the  conversion  of  sinful  men  to 
Christ.  With  what  Divine  propriety,  then,  did  Christ  make 
His  last  and  highest  ordinance  in  the  Church  an  appeal  to 
His  disciples'  love ;  and  thus,  a  means  of  quickening  and 
perpetuating  this  Divine  sympathy  with  Himself,  and  with 
all  who  should  bear  both  His  name  and  His  image  !  Di- 
vine token  from  a  most  compassionate  Savior  !  Sacred  sign 
of  the  only  true  sacrifice  !  May  it  never  fail  of  the  end  for 
which  it  has  been  given !  May  it  be  cherished,  and  kept 
pure  and  uninjured,  till  all  mankind  be  knit  together  in  love, 
and  brought  with  one  heart  to  circle  it  in  sweetest  memory 
of  Him  who  loved  them  unto  death  ! 


THE  NATURE  OP  THE  LORDS  SUPPER.      361 

With  the  account  thus  given  of  the  leading  feature  of 
this  ordinance  there  are  no  texts  which  do  not  readily  har- 
monize. Take  that  so  often  quoted  in  support  of  the  oppo- 
site view,  in  which  the  Apostle  Paul  censured  the  sensual 
Corinthians  for  "  eating  and  drinking  unworthily,"  decla- 
ring, "  Whosoever  shall  eat  this  bread  and  drink  this  cup  of 
the  Lord  unworthily,  shall  be  guilty  of  the  body  and  blood 
of  the  Lord ,-"  and  that "  he  that  eateth  and  drinketh  unworth- 
ily, eateth  and  drinketh  damnation  to  himself,  not  discern- 
ing the  Lord's  hodi/." — 1  Cor.,  xi.,  27-29.  Where,  say  the 
advocates  of  a  real  presence,  were  the  peculiar  sin  and  peril 
of  eating  and  drinking  unworthily,  save  on  the  ground  that 
the  wicked,  in  doing  so,  discern  not  the  holy  thing  which 
is  really,  though  invisibly  present,  the  sacred  body  and 
blood  of  the  Lord,  become  thus  guilty  of  that  oody  and 
blood,  and  lind  that  they  have  received  the  sacrament  of  it, 
not  unto  life,  but  unto  death  ?*  "  On  no  other  theory" 
"  would  the  unworthy  reception  of  the  Holy  Eucharist  be 
so  much  more  dreadful  than  profane  conduct  in  church, 
where,  also,  Christ  is  '  in  the  midst  of  us.' " 

To  this  I  answer,  the  apostle  does  not  say  that  eating 
and  drinking  unworthily  is  so  much  more  dreadful  than  p7-o- 
fane  conduct  in  church,  where,  also,  Christ  is  "  in  ihe 
midst  of  us."  He  says,  indeed,  that  unworthy  eating  and 
drinking  is  a  great  and  perilous  sin ;  but  he  was  not  com- 

*  "  This  real,  spiritual  presence  it  is,  which  makes  it  so  awful  a  tiling  to 
approach  unworthily."  "On  no  theory,  whereby  the  sacred  elements 
should  be  mere  representations,  or  signs,  or  pledges,  or  tokens,  of  an  absent 
thing,  or  means  to  kindle  our  faith,  would  the  unworthy  reception  of  the 
Holy  Eucharist  be  so  much  more  dreadful  than  profane  conduct  in  church, 
where,  also,  Christ  is  in  the  midst  of  us.'  All  which  Scripture  says  of 
this  case,  '  not  discerning  the  Lord's  body,'  '  guilty  of  the  body  and  blood 
of  the  Lord,'  implies  an  hnmediate,  unseen  presence  of  that  body,  which  the 
wicked  discern  not,  can  not  partake  of,  but  offend  against ;  and  so,  eat  and 
drink  judgr;i''i  t  to  themselves,'  in  '  that  they  eat  and  drink  the  sacrament 
of  so  great  a  thing.' " — Letter  of  Dr.  Pusey  to  the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  New- 
York,  1839,  p.  86,  87. 

H   H 


362  THE    NATURE'    OF   THE    LORd's    iSUPl'UK. 

paring  this  with  the  sin  of  profane  conduct  in  church  ;  aTid, 
therefore,  he  does  not  tell  us  which  is  the  more  dreadful. 
Perhaps,  had  he  discoursed  on  the  point  of  this  comparison, 
he  would  have  said  as  thrillingly  severe  things  against  the 
latter  sin  as  he  has  said  against  the  former.  And  this  is 
the  more  probable,  inasmuch  as  he  has  told  us  of  at  least 
one  other  sin,  ^^  falling  away'''  from  the  beginnings  of  grace, 
which  is  equally  dreadful  with  this  of  unworthy  eating  and 
drinking  in  the  Lord's  Supper.  Such  as  thus  "fall  away," 
he  says,  "  crucify  to  themselves  the  Son  of  God  afresh,  and 
put  Him  to  an  open  shame." — Heb.,  vi.,  6.  In  truth,  a// the 
open  sins  of  professing  Christians  are  thus  dreadful.  All 
such,  in  the  sense  intended  by  the  apostle,  "  crucify  to 
themselves  the  Son  of  God  afresh,  and  put  Him  to  an 
open  shame."  And  even  the  profane  conduct  of  the  wicked 
in  the  house  of  God  is  one  of  the  most  flagrant  of  outrages 
that  can  be  committed  against  that  Divine  Savior,  who  is 
spiritually  "  in  the  midst"  of  His  worshiping  people. 

But  even  allowing  that  the  apostle  intended  to  represent 
the  act  of  unworthy  eating  and  drinking  in  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per as  a  sin  peculiarhj  sinful,  still,  I  apprehend,  we  can 
make  excellently  important  and  weighty  sense  out  of  his 
words,  without  resorting  to  the  theory  of  an  immediate  real 
presence  of  His  body  and  blood  in  that  ordinance. 

The  occasion  on  which  he  spake  is  well  known.  The 
grossly  "  carnal"  Corinthians  had  fallen  into  the  practice 
of  making  the  Lord's  Supper  a  common  meal,  or,  something 
worse,  an  occasion  of  excessive  sensual  indulgence.  They 
paid  no  attention  to  it  as  a  divinely-ordained  coinmemora- 
tion  of  the  death  and  passion  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
They  "  distinguished"  not  between  this  and  an  ordinary 
feast :  they  ate,  drank,  and  were  drunken.  They  "  dis- 
cerned not  the  Lord's  body,"  in  that  they  treated  the  con- 
secrated bread  and  wine,  which  were  its  symbols,  as  though 
they  were  a  profane  feast.     They  had  lost  sight  of  the  true 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORD  S  SUPPER.       363 

character  and  design  of  the  sacrament,  and  had  gone  to  such 
"  excess  of  rioting,"  that,  as  a  special  judgment,  some  of 
them  were  seized  with  "  weakness  and  sickness,"  and  many 
of  them  were  fallen  "  asleep,"  either  in  literal  death  or  in  aw- 
ful spiritual  insensibility.  They  thus  realized,  in  their  own 
sad  experience,  that  "  to  eat  and  drink  unworthily  was  to  eat 
and  drink  judgment  to  themselves."  They  were  '•'■guilty 
of  the  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord,'^  not  by  failing  to  "  dis- 
cern" their  '■^  immediate"  presence,  but  by  heaping  contempt 
on  that  sacred  ordinance  in  which  they  were  represented. 
Contempt  of  the  symbol  is  contempt  of  the  thing  symbolized. 
Contempt  of  the  representative  is  contempt  of  the  being  rep- 
resented. Thus,  the  body  of  Christ  was  dishonored  by  the 
abuse  heaped  on  its  memorial.  Thus,  "  the  King  of  Saints" 
himself  was  insulted  by  the  slight  cast  on  His  divinely-ap- 
pointed representative. 

This,  plainly,  is  the  whole  of  the  apostle's  meanings 
There  is  no  need  of  searching  for  the  alleged  real  presence 
of  His  body  in  order  to  justify  the  strong  language  in  which 
he  denounced  judgment  on  the  sin  of  the  sensual  Corinth- 
ians. 

2.  Having  thus  viewed  the  Lord's  Supper  as,  in  its  na- 
ture, Lovers  memorial  of  the  absent  Jesus,  I  proceed  now  to 
consider  another  of  its  essential  features  of  no  less  vital 
importance.  I  know  not  how  to  express  it  better  than  by 
saying  that  this  ordinance  is  also  Faith's  MIRROR  of  the 
sacrifice  on  the  cross. 

The  theory  of  the  real  presence  admits  that  the  Eucha- 
rist is  a  memorial  of  Christ.  So  far  as  this  theory  is  em- 
braced by  a  member  of  our  Church,  it  can  not  do  otherwise 
than  make  the  admission.  The  formularies  of  our  Church, 
in  accord  with  the  words  of  Christ,  are  too  full  of  this  me- 
morial feature  of  the  rite  to  allow  of  its  being  denied,  or 
even  left  out  of  mention.  But  the  advocates  of  the  theory 
do  little  more,  in  their  writings,  than  to  recognize  the  exist- 


364  THE    NATURE    OF    THE    LORd's    SUPPER. 

ence  of  this  feature.  So  far  as  I  am  informed,  they  dwell 
not  on  it ;  they  seem  not  to  consider  it  of  much  importance  ; 
they  lay  their  main  stress  on  another  point,  as  though  tt 
alone  were  worthy  of  much  consideration  j  as  though  it 
alone  involved  the  whole  vital  essence  of  the  sacrament. 
They  consider  the  consecrated  elements  such  signs  as  have 
the  thing  signified  joined  icith  them ;  signs  of  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ  really  present  in  the  sacrament,  and  actual- 
ly conveyed  with  their  significant  emblems ;  signs  which 
derive  their  chief  importance  from  the  fact  that  they  are 
thus  the  vehicles  of  the  mightiest  mystery  beneath  the  sun. 

Now  I  admit,  that  if  we  were  to  limit  the  nature  of  this 
ordinance  to  its  character  as  "  a  mere  sign,"  though  we 
should  still  retain  something  extremely  important  and  in- 
teresting, yet  we  should  have  done  somewhat  toward  rob- 
bing the  "  holy  mystery"  oi  d,  part  of  its  fullness  and  its  rich- 
ness. Nevertheless,  I  hold  that  we  may  reject  the  dogma 
of  the  real  presence,  while,  at  the  same  time,  we  retain  all 
"  the  marrow  and  fatness"  of  the  rite  which  can  be  drawn 
from  the  words  of  inspiration.  The  feature  which  I  have 
just  mentioned,  that  of  the  Lord's  Supper  as  FaitJi's  mirror 
of  the  sacrifice  on  the  cross,  is  doubtless  one  of  the  two 
most  vitally  important  under  which  the  institution  is  pre- 
sented in  the  Bible ;  nor  is  it  either  easy  or  necessary  to 
say  which  of  the  two  is  the  more  vitally  important.  In  Hi? 
instituting  words,  it  is  true,  Christ  says  nothing  oi faith  in 
His  sacrifice  on  the  cross,  though  He  does  speak  of  our 
eating  bread  and  drinking  wine  in  memory  of  Him.  Still, 
faith  in  His  sacrifice  is  necessarily  implied  in  His  words, 
inasmuch  as  we  learn  from  other  language  of  His  that  it  is 
by  faith  alone  that  "  remission  of  sins,"  for  procuring  which 
His  "  blood  was  shed,"  is  received. 

From  the  instituting  words  of  Christ,  we  learn  that  the 
cup  in  the  Eucharist  "represents  the  new  covenant  in  His 
blood."     In  this  new  covenant  itself,  the  great  covenant  of 


THE    NATURE    OF   THE    LORd's    SUPPER.  S65 

grace,  under  which  the  Church  of  the  old  dispensation,  as 
well  as  that  of  the  neio,  was  placed,  the  sacrifice  on  the 
cross  was  promised,  and  virtually  given  (for  thus  only  was 
Christ  a  "  Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world"). 
Now  this  was  a  covenant  which,  while  it  contained,  on  the 
part  of  God,  the  promise  of  a  Savior,  required,  on  the  part 
of  mKn,  faith  in  that  promise,  and,  consequently,  in  that  work 
of  atonement  by  sacrifice  which  the  promise  guarantied. 
Faith,  then,  is  the  act  by  which  we  originally  become  par- 
ties to  this  new  and  gracious  covenant  of  life.  There  may 
be  significant  rites  in  which  this  faith  is  to  be  specially  ex 
ercised.  Still,  faith  must  be  antecedent  to  any  such  rite, 
else  the  rite  itself  will  be  an  empty  and  a  useless  form. 
For  "  without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God"  in  any 
thing  (Heb.,  xi.,  6),  much  more  so  in  so  serious  a  thing  as 
a  religious  ordinance. 

Let  us  look,  then,  more  directly  at  the  point  before  us. 
In  the  Eucharistic  rite,  "  the  cup  represents  the  blood," 
which  the  new  covenant  guarantied  should  be  shed,  and 
which  finally  was  shed,  "  for  the  remission  of  sins."  And 
this  rite  is  now,  as  one  of  the  seals  of  that  covenant,  Christ's 
visible  "  pledge"  that  the  promise  is,  and  shall  be  fulfilled  to 
every  one  that  lelieveth  in  Him  as  the  Son  of  God,  the  only 
Savior  of  sinners.  In  view  of  this  ^'pledge,"  faith  realizes, 
with  unwonted  vividness,  the  fulfillment  of  the  promise ; 
and  thus  the  Lord's  Supper  becomes,  to  the  true  Christian 
communicant,  Faith's  mirror  of  the  sacrifice  on  the  cross. 
In  that  mirror,  held,  as  it  were,  by  the  hand  of  the  Divine 
Surety,  faith  sees  reflected  Christ's  precious  bloodshedding 
for  the  remission  of  sins.  And  -ds  faith  is  the  act  by  which 
we  originally  become  parties  to  the  new  covenant  of  salva- 
tion, so,  whenever  faith  is  subsequently  exercised  in  view 
of  this  seal  of  the  covenant,  this  "  pledge"  of  salvation,  this 
mirror  of  the  cross,  there  is  a  virtually  repeated  renewal  of 
our  act  of  covenanting.  We  there  renewedly  give  our- 
H  H  2 


366      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

selves  to  Christ  as  His  redeemed,  while  He  renewedly  as- 
sures us  of  the  truth  that  He  is  our  Redeemer,  or  enables 
us  renewedly  to  realize  the  certainty  of  the  assurance  that 
"  in  Him  we  have  redemption  through  His  blood,  the  for- 
giveness of  sin."  He  does  not  convey  this  forgiveness 
through  any  "  impetratory  sacrifice"  which  is  then  offered 
(this  forgiveness  we  had  when  first,  in  the  faith  of  a  true 
Christian,  we  gave  ourselves  to  Him,  and  received  Him  as 
our  Savior),  but  He  then  renews  His  assurance  of  our  for- 
giveness, quickens  our  faith  in  His  assurance,  pours  into 
our  hearts  the  fuller  comforts  of  our  relation  to  Him,  and 
thus  makes  our  whole  inner  man  stronger  for  all  that  re- 
mains of  our  walk,  and  work,  and  warfare  in  His  service. 
Every  time  we  go  to  the  communion,  in  the  exercise  of  a 
true  faith,  we  thus  renew  our  covenant  with  God  in  Christ 
Jesus  ;  and  the  effect  is,  that  our  souls  gather  this  rich  and 
Divine  refreshment,  while  Faith  sees,  in  that  sacred  mirror, 
the  visible  seal  of  the  promise,  the  ordained  "pledge"  of  an 
infallibly  certain  salvation  to  every  true  believer  in  Christ. 

This,  as  we  may  safely  understand  it,  is  the  faith  by 
which,  in  the  language  of  our  Catechism,  "  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ  are  spiritually  taken  and  received  by  the 
faithful  in  the  Lord's  Supper ;"  by  those  who  have  the 
faith  of  the  true  Christian. 

Our  Catechism  teaches  that  in  a  sacrament  there  are  two 
parts,  "  the  outward  visible  sign,  and  the  inward  spiritual 
grace  ;"  and  that,  in  "  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  outward  part, 
or  sign,"  consists  in  the  "  bread  and  wine  which  the  Lord 
hath  commanded  to  be  received,"  while  "  the  inward  part, 
or  thing  signified,"  is  "  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  which 
are  spiritually  taken  and  received  by  the  faithful  in  that 
Supper." 

Now  between  this,  as  I  have  just  explained  it,  and  that 
view  of  the  sacrament  which  includes  the  idea  of  a  real 
presence,  there  is  an  essential  and  vitally  important  differ- 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORDS  SUPPER.      367 

ence.  The  theorj-  of  the  real  presence  makes  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ,  as  the  things  signified,  actually  in  the 
sacrament,  and  conveyed  through,  or  icilh  the  signs.  The 
Catechism  teaches  no  such  thing,  but  is  perfectly  consistent 
with  the  explanation,  that  the  thing  signified,  the  real  body 
of  Christ,  is  absent,  and  not  conveyed  through  or  wilh  the 
sign,  being  only  '^spiritually  taken  and  received"  by  faith. 
The  theory  of  a  real  presence  teaches  that  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ  can  not  be  spiritually  taken  and  received 
unless  actually  in  the  sacrament,  and  conveyed  through  or 
zoifh  the  sign.  The  Catechism  is  consistent  with  the  doc- 
trine that  this  body  and  blood  may  be  spiritually  tak«n  and 
received  while  absent,  and  though  7iot  conveyed  through  or 
with  the  sign.  The  former  teaches  that  both  parts  of  the 
sacrament  are  present  on  the  altar.  The  latter  teaches  that 
the  sign  alone  is  present  on  the  table,  while  the  thing  sig- 
nified is  absent  at  the  right  hand  of  God. 

The  CatecTiism,  then,  teaches  7iot  the  doctrine  of  a  real 
presence  ;  nor,  so  far  as  I  am  informed,  is  the  ier7n  real 
presence  once  used  in  the  accredited  standards  of  our 
Church.  There  certainly  is  a  sense  in  which  the  true 
Christian  receives  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  in  the  Lord's 
Supper  as  he  receives  it  at  no  other  time,  and  in  no  other 
way  ;  and  this  sense  I  have  already  stated.  Inasmuch, 
however,  as  there  are  certain  expressions  in  our  communion 
service  upon  which  I  have,  as  yet,  offered  no  special  re- 
mark, I  will  here  cite  them  for  the  purpose  of  stating  more 
definitely  the  sense  to  which  I  refer,  and  which  I  suppose 
these  expressions  to  imbody. 

In  that  service,  then,  God  is  said  to  "  have  given  His  Son, 
our  Savior  Jesus  Christ,  not  only  to  die  for  us,  but  also  to 
be  our  sjnritualfood  and  sustenance  in  that  holy  sacrament ;" 
so  that  thither  we  "  come  to  feed  on  the  banquet  of  that 
most  heavenly  food."  We  utter  there  the  petition,  "  Grant 
us,  therefore,  gracious  God,  so  to  eat  the  flesh  of  thy  dear 


308      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

Son,  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  drink  His  blood,  that  our  sinful 
bodies  may  be  made  clean  by  His  body,  and  our  souls  wash- 
ed through  His  most  precious  blood,  and  that  we  may  ever- 
more dwell  in  Him  and  He  in  us."  To  a  similar  efl'ect  are 
the  following  words  :  "  We  most  humbly  beseech  Thee,  O 
merciful  Father,  to  hear  us,  and  of  thy  almighty  goodness 
vouchsafe  to  bless  and  sanctify,  with  thy  Word  and  Holy 
Spirit,  these  thy  gifts  and  creatures  of  bread  and  wine  :  that 
we,  receiving  them,  according  to  thy  Son  our  Savior  Jesus 
Christ's  holy  institution,  in  remembrance  of  His  death  and 
passion,  may  be  partakers  of  His  most  blessed  body  and 
blood."  The  following  words  also  express  the  same  idea : 
"  Humbly  beseeching  Thee  that  we,  and  all  others  who 
shall  be  partakers  of  this  holy  communion,  may  worthily 
receive  the  most  precious  body  and  blood  of  thy  Son  Jesus 
Christ ;  be  filled  with  thy  grace  and  heavenly  benediction, 
and  made  one  body  with  Him,  that  He  may  dwell  in  the?n  and 
they  in  Him.'''  And,  finally,  having  uttered  such  petitions, 
and  finished  our  act  of  communion,  we  make  the  following 
expression  of  our  sense  of  the  benefit  which  we  hare  re- 
ceived :  "  We  most  heartily  thank  Thee  for  that  thou  dost 
vouchsafe  to  feed  us,  who  have  duly  received  these  holy 
mysteries  with  the  spiritual  food  of  the  most  precious  body 
and  blood  of  thy  Son  our  Savior,  Jesus  Christy  and  dost  as- 
sure us  thereby  of  thy  favor  and  goodness  toward  us ;  and 
that  we  are  very  tnembers  incorporate  in  the  mystical  body  of 
thy  Son,  which  is  the  blessed  company  of  all  faithful  people." 

Now  all  these  expressions  carry,  in  various  forms,  one 
and  the  same  idea ;  so  that,  when  this  idea  is  once  present- 
ed or  ascertained,  it  opens  all  the  forms  in  which  it  is  in- 
closed.    What,  then,  is  this  idea  ? 

The  advocates  of  the  theory  which  I  oppose  would  con- 
tend that  it  is  the  idea  of  the  real  -presence ;  according  to 
which,  the  very  spiritual  substance  of  the  flesh  and  blood  of 
Christ  is  given  and  received  at  the  same  time  and  together 


THE    NATURE    OP   THE  LORd's    SUPPER.  369 

with  iheir  signs  ;  so  that  we  spiritually,  though  none  the 
less  really,  eat  that  flesh  and  drink  that  blood,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  we  become,  in  a  great  mystery,  one  flesh 
and  one  blood  with  Christ,  He  dwelling  in  us  and  we  in 
Him,  commingled  and  co-united  in  one  body  by  the  commu- 
nication of  the  Divine  nature.  They  would  say  that,  al- 
though the  term  real  presence  is  not  here  used,  yet  is  is  m- 
■plied  ;  and  that  it  is  the  only  one  which  can  open  the  true 
sense  of  the  expressions  within  the  various  forms  of  which 
it  is  infolded. 

But  that  the  idea  as  well  as  the  term  real  presence,  in 
any  sense  which  would  satisfy  these  theorists,  is  wholly  ab- 
sent from  these  expressions,  must,  I  apprehend,  be  evident 
to  any  one  who  will  give  them  a  candid  as  well  as  a  care- 
ful thought. 

In  the  first  place,  if  ilicir  idea  of  the  real  presence  be  here 
implied,  why  do  we  pray  that  God  would  "  vouchsafe  to 
bless  and  sanctify  His  gifts  and  creatures  of  bread  and 
wine  with  His  Word  and  Holy  Spirit  f  Why  do  we  not 
rather  pray  that  He  would  vouchsafe  to  bless  and  sanctify 
them  by  uniting  with  them  the  present  flesh  and  blood  of 
His  dear  Son,  that  thus  we  may  receive  the  benefit  of  His 
repeated  sacrifice  for  our  sins  ?  Or,  again,  why  do  we 
pray  for  grace  "  so  to  eat  the  flesh  and  drink  the  blood  of 
Christ,  as  that  our  sinful  bodies  may  be  made  clean  by  His 
body,  and  our  souls  washed  by  His  most  precious  blood  ?" 
Why  do  we  not  rather  pray  that  we  may  "  so  eat  and  drink 
as  that  we  may  become  one  body,  one  flesh,  and  one  blood 
with  Him,  commingled  and  co-united  with  Him  by  the 
communication  of  His  Divine  nature,  and  by  the  convey- 
ance of  His  spiritual  substance  ?"  The  truth  is,  that  to  be 
"  clean"  and  to  be  "  washed"  are  well-known  Biblical  forms 
of  speech,  signifying  to  be  pardoned  and  to  be  purifed  from 
all  sin,  and  to  be  perfected  and  made  blessed  in  all  holiness, 
both  of  body  and  of  mind.     And  that  this  is  the  true  result 


370      THE  NATURE  OP  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

which  is  at  all  times  realized  by  failh  in  the  sacrifice  and 
death  of  Christ — though  more  largely  realized  in  this  sacra- 
ment than  at  otlwr  times,  through  the  greater  vividness  of 
faith  in  view  of  the  Divine  symbols  of  this  holy  ordinance — 
is  evident  from  the  fact,  that  when  our  Church,  in  her  com- 
munion service,  drops  the  use  of  her  symbolic  language  and 
speaks  out  in  literal  terms,  she  expresses  no  other  than  this 
very  result  of  pardon  and  purification  from  sin,  with  perfect 
holiness  and  happiness,  as  making  up  "  the  other  benefits  of 
Christ's  passion."  Hence,  immediately  after  one  of  the  pe- 
titions which  I  have  cited,  praying  that  we  "  may  be  par- 
takers of  His  most  blessed  body  and  blood,"  she  adds,  "  We 
earnestly  desire  thy  Fatherly  goodness  mercifully  to  accept 
this  our  sacrifice  of  praise  and  thanksgiving,  most  humbly 
beseeching  thee  to  grant  that,  by  the  merits  and  death  of 
thy  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  and  through  faith  in  his  blood,  we, 
and  all  thy  whole  Church,  may  obtain  remission  of  our  sins, 
and  all  other  benefits  of  His  passion."  Here  we  plainly  see 
the  symbolic  dress  dropped  away  from  the  body  of  literal 
sense  which  it  had  inwrapped,  and  leaving  that  sense  ex- 
posed to  clear  view.  '"  J5j/  the  merits  and  death  of  Christ, 
and  through  faith  in  His  blood,"  the  very  moment  we  first 
exercise  this  faith  we  ^'■obtain  remission  of  our  sins,"  and  at 
least  begin  to  realize  "  all  other  benefits  of  His  passion"  in  the 
growing  holiness  and  happiness  of  our  Christian  character  and 
lives.  But  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  this  important  work  within 
us  is  specially  expedited.  Faith  is  here  specially  vigorous 
and  invigorated.  Love  here  is  specially  fervent  and  all-con- 
quering over  sin  and  the  world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil.  And 
thus,  even  in  uncommon  measures,  are  "  all  other  benefits  of 
Christ's  passion"  insured  in  the  ripening  holiness  and  hap- 
piness of  our  souls.  This  is  the  literal  sense  of  what  our 
Church  teaches  in  these  parts  of  her  communion  service. 
Wrapped  up  again  in  its  dress  of  symbol,  it  becomes  "  so 
eating  the  flesh  and  drinking  the  blood  of  Christ"  (that  is, 


THE    NATURE    OF    THE    LORd's   SUPPER.  371 

with  such  a  spiritual  signification),  "  that  our  sinful  bodies 
are  made  clean  by  His  body,  and  our  souls  washed  through 
His  most  precious  blood."  The  symbolic  and  the  literal  in 
these  two  passages  are  not  two  distinct  and  difierent  ideas, 
but  one  and  the  same  idea ;  and  it  is  an  idea  which  sets,  as 
far  off  from  this  sacrament  as  the  poles  of  heaven  are  asun- 
der, the  notion  of  an  alleged  real  presence  of  the  flesh  and 
blood  of  Christ; 

But  it  will  be  asked  by  those  who  maintain  the  theory 
of  such  a  presence,  Does  not  our  Church,  when  she  prays 
that  we  may  "  so  eat  the  flesh  and  drink,  the  blood"  of 
Christ,  "  that  our  sinful  bodies  may  be  made  clean  by  His 
body,  and  our  souls  washed  through  His  most  precious 
blood,"  immediately  add  the  petition,  that  thus  "  tv^  may  ever- 
more dwell  in  Him  and  He  in  us  f  And  does  she  not  also, 
shortly  after  praying  "  that,  by  the  merits  and  death  of 
Christ,  and  through  faith  in  His  blood,  we  may  obtain  re- 
mission of  our  sins,  and  all  other  benefits  of  His  passion," 
subjoin  the  petition,  "  that  we,  and  all  others  who  shall  be 
partakers  of  this  holy  communion,  may  worthily  receive  the 
most  precious  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  be  filled  with  grace 
and  heavenly  benediction,  and  made  one  body  wilk  Him,  that 
He  may  dwell  in  them  and  they  in  Htm  ?"  Does  not  this 
sustain  the  doctrine  of  the  real  presence,  in  consequence  of 
which  we  are  "  made  one  body  with  Him,  that  He  may 
dwell  in  us,  and  we  in  Him?" 

To  this,  however,  I  reply,  though  our  Church  undoubt- 
edly uses  the  language  which  is  here  quoted,  yet  she  does 
not  thereby  teach  the  doctrine  of  the  real  presence,  and  the 
consequent  commingling  and  co-uniting  of  the  flesh  and 
blood  of  Christ  with  the  body  and  soul  of  the  individual 
communicant ;  but  the  farthest  from  such  a  notion  and  its 
consequence.  She  is  not,  in  that  language,  praying  for  the 
commingling  and  co-union  of  Christ's  very  flesh  and  blood 
with  the  body  and  soul  of  the  individual  communicant ;  but  she 


372  THE    NATtRE    OF    THE    I.ORd's    f^Ul'I'EP. 

is,  as  in  another  part  of  her  service,  '•  praying  for  the  whole 
state  of  Christ's  Church  militant ;"  for  the  whole  body  of 
those  who  are,  or  "  shall  be  partakers  of  this  holy  commun- 
ion ;"  in  other  words,  all  who  shall  be  joined  iu  this  holy 
"fellowship"  of  true  Christians.  She  is  praying  that  all 
these,  as  one  grand  icholc,  may  be  "  made  one  hody  with 
Him,  that  He  may  dwell  in  them  and  they  in  Hiin ;"  that 
He  may  dv/ell  in  this  great  hody,  this  collective  "  fellow- 
ship" by  dwelling  with  and  among  its  members  ;  and  that 
this  great  body,  this  collective  fellowship,  may  dwell  in 
Him  by  remaining  imited  as  a  whole,  in  the  spirit  of  de- 
pendence on  Him,  and  obedience  to  Him  as  its  Divine 
Head.  She  is  teaching  the  Bible  doctrine,  which  she  finds, 
as  in  other  places,  so  especially  in  the  twelfth  chapter  of 
the  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  and  in  the  second  chap- 
ter of  that  to  the  Colossians  ;  the  doctrine,  that  the  Church, 
as  a  whole,  is  a  collective  hody,  of  which  Christ  is  the 
Head,  while  Christians  are  its  members  in  particular ;  and 
that  there  are  benefits  and  blessedness  in  "  holding  the 
Head,"  united  together  in  the  spirit  of  holy  dependence  on 
Him,  and  obedience  to  Him,  from  whom  alone  "  all  the  hody, 
by  joints  and  bands,  having  nourishment  ministered,  and  knit 
together,  increaselh  with  the  increase  of  God ;"  that  is,  with 
a  glorious  and  mighty  increase.  This  is  the  doctrine 
which  she  is  teaching  in  those  expressions  of  her  com- 
munion service,  the  doctrine  that  the  whole  Church  is 
Christ's  lody ;  his  body  on  earth,  with  its  Head  in  heaven  ; 
and  that  Head  sitting  there  supreme  over  all,  ruling  and  de- 
fending all  with  power,  and  "  filling  all  with  grace  and 
heavenly  benediction." 

That  this  is  her  meaning,  take  her  own  explanation  as 
confirmatory  of  the  view  already  given  of  her  language. 
When,  after  having  closed  the  solemn  rite  of  consecrating 
and  setting  apart  the  sacred  elements,  and  of  delivering 
them  to  the   communicants,  she  oft'ers   her  great  thanks- 


THE  NATURE  UF  TU]:  LORd's  SUPPER.      373 

giving  for  the  benefits  received,  in  that  God  has  vouchsafed 
to  feed  her  true  children  "  with  the  spiritual  food  of  the 
most  precious  body  and  blood  of  His  Son,"  and  to  "  assure 
them  thereby  of  His  favor  and  goodness  toward  them,"  and 
of  their  being  "  very  members  incorporate  in  the  mystical  body 
of  His  Son  ,-"  by  way  of  showing  what  she  means  by  being 
thus  "  incorporate,  as  very  or  true  members,  in  this  mysti- 
cal body  of  Christ,'^  she  immediately  adds,  "  which  is  the 
blessed  company  of  all  faithful  people."  Here  is  the  out- 
breaking of  light  over  all  her  meaning  in  this  and  similar 
phraseology !  It  is  not  the  real,  though  spiritual,  the  very, 
though  glorified  body  of  Christ,  which  her  communicants 
have  individually  received  into  their  bodies  ;  Christ  and  the 
Christian  commingled  and  co-united  each  with  each  ;  and 
forming  thus,  in  every  particular  member,  one  body,  one  flesh, 
and  one  blood,  with  Him  ;  but  it  is  the  collective  body  of  the 
Church,  "  that  holy  fclloxvship,"  as  it  is  immediately  called, 
that  "blessed  company  o{  all  faithful  people,"  THIS,  into 
which,  by  the  symbol  of  the  Supper,  the  individual  becomes 
incorporated,  and  is  thus  made  "  a  member  in  particular"  of 
that  "  mystical  body,"  the  Church,  of  which  Christ  is  the 
head,  and  in  our  "  fellowship"  with  which,  she  prays,  we  may 
ever  "continue;"  "doing  all  such  good  works  as  God  hath 
prepared  for  us  to  walk  in,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord." 
Here,  again,  as  in  the  former  case,  we  see  the  Church 
dropping  the  dress  of  symbol  from  the  body  of  literal  signifi- 
cation, which  it  had  inwrapped,  and  leaving  that  significa- 
tion exposed  to  clear  view.  "  Very  members,  incorporate 
in  the  mystical  body  of  thy  Son,  which  is  the  blessed  com- 
pany of  all  faithful  people  ;"  "  the  communion,"  or  "  fel- 
lowship," of  which  St.  Paul  speaks  (1  Cor.,  x.,  16),  and 
into  which  we  are  brought  by  eating  "  the  bread  which  is 
broken,"  and  by  drinking  of  "  the  cup  which  is  blessed,"  as 
a  Divine  memorial  "of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ;"  this 
is  what  our  Church  means  when  she  speaks  of  our  "so 
I  1 


374  THE    NATURE    OF    THE    LORd's    SUPPER. 

eating  the  flesh  and  drinking  the  blood  of  God's  dear 
Son,"  as  "  that  we  may  evermore  dwell  in  Him  and  He  in 
us  j"  or,  as  that  "  all  who  are  partakers  of  this  holy  com- 
munion," the  whole  collective  mass  of  members  in  the 
Church,  may  "  be  made  one  body  with  Him,  that  He  may 
dwell  inthem^  and  they  in  Him."  These  two  forms  of 
expression  do  not  inibody  two  distinct  and  diflierent 
ideas  ;  they  imbody  but  one  and  the  same  idea.  In  sym- 
bol, it  is  "  so  eating  the  flesh  and  drinking  the  blood  of 
Christ,  that  He  dwelleth  in  us,  and  we  in  Him,"  inso- 
niuch  that  collectively  we  are  "  made  one  body  with 
Him,"  even  His  great  "  mystical  body."  In  literal  phrase, 
with  the  dress  of  symbol  dropped,  it  is,  so  "  eating  the 
bread  which  is  broken,  and  drinking  the  cup  which  is 
blessed,"  that  we  become  one  Church  under  His  supreme 
government  and  influence  ;  one  "  communion,''^  one  "/e/- 
lowship,^^  one  great  "  company,^^  made  up  of  "  all  faith- 
ful people  ;''^  "knit  together"  with  "joints  and  bands," 
and  "holding  the  Head,"  from  whom  "nourishment  is 
ministered,"  and  the  great  "  company"  "  increaseth  with 
the  increase  of  God."  This,  I  say,  is  the  true  meaning 
of  our  Church  in  all  this  phraseology;  and  it  is  a  mean- 
ing which  puts  utterly  away  the  doctrine  of  the  real 
presence,  as  this  phrase  is  ordinarily  understood.  Our 
Church,  in  her  communion  service,  is  constantly  carry- 
ing sacramental  symbol  and  literal  sense  side  by  side  ;  now 
wrapping  up  her  meaning  in  the  beautiful  and  striking 
dress  of  the  one,  and  now  unfolding  it  in  the  plain  and 
reasonable  language  of  the  other  ;  and  in  both  following 
the  example  of  Christ  her  Head  in  such  a  way  that,  to  a 
docile  disciple,  taught  of  the  Spirit,  or  even  willing  to 
be  taught,  each  explains  each  ;  and  both  make  one  Di- 
vine whole  of  rich  and  powerful  significancy. 

In  order  that  we  may  see  more  distinctly  the  import- 
ant difference  which  exists  between  the  two  theories 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      375 

which  have  been  presented,  I  will  now  set  down  the 
two  points  which  each  theory  includes,  so  far  as  they 
have  just  been  the  subjects  of  examination. 

The  theory,  then,  which  involves  the  real  presence, 
puts  a  sacrifice  into  the  Eucharist,  and  conveys  remission 
of  sin  by  virtue  of  that  sacrifice,  and  through  the  act  of 
its  priestly  offerer.  But  the  theory  which  rejects  the 
real  presence,  makes  the  Eucharist  the  memorial  of  a 
sacrifice,  and  a  seal  of  the  covenant  which  assures  remis- 
sion of  sin  to  every  one  that  believeth,  even  upon  his 
first  exercise  of  a  living  faith  in  Christ.  Such  is  the 
first  point  of  difference ;  and  it  is  of  immeasurable  im- 
portance. 

Again,  the  theory  which  involves  the  real  presence, 
brings  the  true,  though  invisible,  the  real,  though  spirit- 
ualized body  of  Christ,  into  the  Eucharist,  and  conveys 
it  with  the  sign  into  the  body  and  soul  of  the  recipient, 
commingling  and  co-uniting  both,  so  that  each  commu- 
nicant becomes  one  body,  one  flesh  and  blood,  with  his 
Savior.  But  the  theory  which  rejects  the  real  presence, 
makes  the  Eucharist  a  symbol  of  the  body  of  Christ ; 
and  a  rite,  which  brings  all  who  receive  it  truly  into 
one  communion,  fellowship,  or  company ;  into  the  one 
collective,  mystical  body  of  Christ,  His  Church  ;  under 
Him  as  the  Head,  and  receiving  governance,  grace,  and 
heavenly  benediction  from  Him,  as  the  source  of  all  au- 
thority, life,  and  blessedness.  Such  is  the  second  point 
of  difference  J  and  it  is,  if  comparison  maybe  indulged 
between  things  immeasurable,  of  still  more  immeasura- 
ble importance  than  the  other. 

Tlie  evils  which,  in  the  movement  of  ages,  flow  from 
the  doctrine  of  the  real  presence,  as  now  taught  among 
us,  I  have  already  partially  sketched.  I  need  not, 
therefore,  in  this  place,  repeat  the  sketch.  I  need  only 
say,  we  have  the  seeds  of  them  planted  in  our  portion 


376      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

of  the  vineyard,  and  that,  just  so  far  and  so  fast  as  they 
are  permitted  to  have  nurture  and  growth,  their  bale- 
ful influence  will  be  inevitably  visible  in  darkening  the 
nninds,  confusing  the  theology,  and  corrupting  both  the 
faith  and  the  practice  of  our  Church. 

I  have  said  there  certainly  is  a  sense  in  which  the 
true  Christian  receives  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  in 
the  Lord's  Supper,  as  he  receives  them  at  no  other  time, 
and  in  no  other  way  ;  and  the  examination  which  has 
now  been  made  of  the  language  of  our  communion  ser- 
vice will  enable  me  to  state,  as  I  promised,  more  defi- 
nitely whalt  I  mean  by  the  saying.  I  mean  that,  while 
the  true  Christian  may,  and  does  receive  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ,  when,  alone  in  the  privacy  of  his  closet, 
and  in  the  secrecy  of  his  heart,  he  believes  in  his  Sav- 
ior, and  relies  on  his  atoning  sacrifice  for  pardon,  adop- 
tion, and  eternal  life ;  and  when,  thus  alone,  he  rejoi- 
ces in  the  blessed  privilege,  which  is  his,  of  being  a 
child  of  God ;  he  yet  receives  this  body  and  blood  with 
a  still  richer  fullness  of  benefit,  when,  in  the  company 
of  the  faithful,  in  the  house  of  God,  and  around  the  table 
of  his  Lord,  his  faith  sees  that  same  atoning  sacrifice 
on  the  cross,  reflected,  with  unwonted  vividness,  in  the 
divinely-appointed  Mirror,  which  the  hand  of  His  sure- 
ty holds  before  him  ;  when  his  faith,  thus  social  in  its 
exercise,  looks  on  the  ordained,  visible  "p/ec/ge"  of  his 
Savior's  love  for  his  soul,  and  on  the  constituted,  sensi- 
ble "  seaV  of  the  promise,  which  guaranties  the  free 
and  full  forgiveness  of  all  his  sins  ;  and  when,  with  his 
faith  thus  awakened  and  strengthened,  and  his  love  as 
its  fruit  made  proportionately  glowing  and  intense,  he 
identifies  himself,  or,  rather,  realizes  his  identity  with 
the  communion  of  saints,  the  fellowship  of  the  faithful, 
and  stands  in  that  very  company,  and  in  the  midst  of 
those  very  solemnities  which  Christ  most    delights  to 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      377 

honor  and  to  bless ;  which  are,  in  themselves,  best  cal- 
culated to  bring  into  one  living  assemblage,  round  his 
reverent,  yet  rejoicing  soul,  all  that  is  most  aflecting 
and  most  quickening,  most  comforting  and  most  hal- 
lowing, in  the  wonders  of  Bethlehem  and  of  Gethsera- 
ane,  of  the  cross  and  of  the  grave,  of  the  resurrection 
and  of  heaven  ;  and  which  are,  therefore,  to  be  regard- 
ed as  those  occasions  of  special  and  of  sacred  privilege, 
whereat  Christ  vouchsafes,  in  all  its  richness,  the  se- 
cret of  His  favor  and  loving  kindness  for  His  chosen  ; 
and  whereon  He  sheds,  in  all  their  fullness,  the  bless- 
ings of  His  grace  and  heavenly  benediction,  even  from 
out  that  heaven  of  life  and  that  throne  of  glory  unto 
which  He  is  now  exalted. 

This  is  the  peculiarity  under  which  faith  exercises 
itself  in  the  Lord's  Supper ;  and  this  is  what  is  meant 
by  saying  that  the  true  Christian  then  receives  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ,  as  he  receives  them  at  no  other 
time,  and  in  no  other  way.  Then  only  is  it  that  he 
receives  them — not  simply  by  faith  in  the  sacrifice, 
which  they  constitute,  and  in  which  they  were,  once 
for  all,  offered  on  the  cross — but,  also,  in  sight  of  the 
very  mirror  which  reflects  them  on  his  spiritual  sense ; 
in  sight  of  the  very  ^^ pledge'''  which  certifies  him  of 
the  never-dying  love  of  Christ;  and  in  sight  of  the  very 
seal  which  assures  him  that  he  is  a  ransomed,  pardon- 
ed, and  adopted  child  of  God.  And  this,  I  humbly  sug- 
gest, is  the  only  sense  in  which  the  Christian  can  with 
truth  be  said  to  receive  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  in 
the  Lord's  Supper.  He  receives  them  by  looking,  from 
the  beating  heart  of  love,  and  with  the  kindling  eye 
of  faith,  through  the  memorial  to  Him  whom  it  keeps 
in  memory  ;  through  the  mirror  to  Him  whose  face 
shineth  therein  ;  through  the  symbol  to  the  sacrifice 
which  it  represents ;  and  through  the  seal  to  the  par- 
I  I  2 


378      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORD  S  SUPPER. 

don  which,  on  the  terms  of  the  covenant,  it  insures. 
To  receive  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  into  our  bod- 
ies and  souls,  or  to  feed  on  them  in  the  Lord's  Supper, 
in  any  other  sense  than  that  of  believing  in  Christ,  re- 
lying on  His  atoning  sacrifice  by  faith,  and  being  spirit- 
ually refreshed  and  strengthened  amid  the  privileges, 
and  under  the  blessings,  which  are  vouchsafed  from 
heaven  on  that  precious  ordinance,  is  impossible.  Nei- 
ther reason  nor  revelation  shows  any  other  way  of 
"  eating  the  flesh  and  drinking  the  blood  of  the  Son  of 
Man,"  than  that  now  indicated.  This  way  both  reason 
and  revelation  concur  in  showing  ;  and  it  is  the  way  of 
life..  To  seek  any  other,  is  to  plunge  deep  into  the 
peril  of  being  lost  forever  amid  those  darkly  vvildering 
mists  of  error  which  are  spread  over  the  entrance  to 
the  way  of  death  ! 

3.  The  most  important  and  fundamental  views  of  the 
nature  of  the  Lord's  Supper  have  now  been  given. 
Growing  out  of  these,  however,  is  a  third,  of  great  in- 
terest and  importance  j  I  mean  that  which  presents  this 
ordinance  in  its  character  as  a  means  of  grace.  This, 
indeed,  is  not  so  much  a  distinct  feature  of  the  ordi- 
nance itself,  as  it  is  the  effect  of  the  ordinance,  flowing 
out  of  its  proper  nature,  as  love's  memorial  of  the  bodi- 
ly absent  Jesus,  and  as  faith's  mirror  of  His  sacrifice  on 
the  cross. 

It  is  proper  here  to  spend  a  moment  in  distinguish- 
ing between  this  ordinance  as  a  means  of  grace,  and  the 
same  as  a  "  source  of  grace."  It  will  be  remembered 
that,  at  the  very  outset  of  this  treatise,  I  referred  to  the 
notion,  which  is  gaining  extended  currency  among  us, 
that  "the  sacraments  are  sources  of  Divine  grace." 
Now  this  is  either  a  most  unguarded  expression,  or  a 
designed  enunciation  of  a  doctrine  which  is  full  of  er- 
ror.    A  source  is  a  fountain,  first  cause,  or  original  pro- 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORDS  SUPPER.      379 

ducer.  A  means  is  an  instrument  used  by  an  agent 
in  the  production  of  an  intended  effect  j  or  a  medium 
through  which  some  effect,  or  supply,  is  communicated. 
To  say,  therefore,  in  so  many  words,  that  "  the  sacra- 
ments are  sources  of  Divine  grace,"  or  to  treat  them 
as  though  they  were  such  sources^  is  either  unguarded- 
ly, or  designedly,  to  lead  men  to  stop  at  the  sacra- 
ments, to  regard  them  as  things  endued  with  a  miracu- 
lous, spontaneous  energy,  and  to  rest  in  them,  as,  by  a 
secret  power  of  their  own,  and  in  some  mysterious  way, 
of  which  we  know  nothing,  whether  as  to  its  operation, 
or  as  to  its  effect,  making  us  partakers  of  the  Christian 
character  and  of  the  Divine  life.  The  sacraments  are 
not  sources  of  grace  ;  they  are  but  means  of  grace. 
And  even  when  we  come  to  regard  them  as  means,  it 
is  necessary  carefully  to  consider  and  rightly  to  under- 
stand the  sense  in  which  they  are  means.  They  are 
not  means,  then,  in  such  a  sense,  as  that  by  them  God 
generates  the  Divine  life  in  the  soul  5  but  only  in  such  a 
sense,  as  that  through  them  God  nourishes  and  perfects 
the  Divine  life  already  generated.  Nor  are  they  means 
even  in  such  a  sense  as  that  God  nourishes  and  perfects 
the  already  generated  Divine  life  of  the  soul  by  any 
power  or  virtue  lodged  in  the  very  matter  and  substance 
of  the  sacraments  themselves;  but  only  in  such  a  sense 
as  that,  through  the  vital  truths  and  realities  which  they 
affectingly  symbolize  and  represent,  the  blessing  of  God 
in  the  influences  of  His  Spirit  nourishes  and  perfects 
the  life  which  Himself  had  produced  by  the  instrument- 
ality of  His  own  quickening  and  sanctifying  Word. 

This,  then,  is  what  I  mean  when  I  speak  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  as  a  means  of  grace.  It  is  a  medium  through 
which  the  Holy  Spirit  increases  and  perfects  all  the  gra- 
ces of  our  Christian  character  by  the  peculiar  and  unusu- 
al energy  with  which,  in  the  symbols  of  this  sacrament, 


380      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

He  presents  and  applies  to  our  souls  those  glorious 
truths  and  realities  which  cluster  so  movingly  around 
the  cross  of  Christ. 

The  Catechism  of  our  Church  represents  "  ^Ae  benefits 
whereof  we  are  partakers"  by  this  sacrament,  as  con- 
sisting in  "  the  strengthening  and  refreshing  of  our  souls 
by  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  as  our  bodies  are  by 
the  bread  and  wine."  That  is,  as  our  natural  bodies 
are  strengthened  and  refreshed  by  the  natural  bread  and 
wine  which  are  received  into  them  and  digested  by 
them,  so  are  our  souls  "  strengthened  and  refreshed" 
by  "  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  which  are  spiritually 
taken  and  received  by  the  faithful  in  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per." The  remarks  already  offered  show  how  this 
strengthening  and  refreshing  of  our  souls  in  the  Lord's 
Supper  come  from  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  The 
body  has  its  own  way  of  receiving  and  digesting  its 
proper  sustenance.  The  sot// also  has  hers  ;  and  it  is  as 
peculiar  to  her  as  a  spirit,  as  that  of  the  body  is  to  itself 
as  mere  matter.  The  soul  receives  her  proper  susten- 
ance, or  eats  and  drinks  her  spiritual  food,  with  her  eye, 
through  that/a?VA  which  looks,  and  sees,  and  apprehends 
the  Divine  truths  and  realities  before  it.  Faith  is  that 
"  spiritual  faculty"  of  hers,  which,  for  the  purpose  de- 
signed, "annihilates  both  time  and  space,"  by  taking 
her,  in  its  quick  motion,  to  the  cross  on  Calvary,  or  to 
the  throne  in  heaven,  and  there  feeding  her  ravished 
vision  with  a  sight  of  Him  who  once  bled  for  sin,  and 
who  now  reigns  unto  salvation. 

But  before  entering  more  at  large  into  the  idea  of 
this  strengthening  and  refreshing  which  the  soul  re- 
ceives in  the  Lord's  Supper,  I  must  offer  a  single  re- 
mark on  the  language  just  quoted  from  our  Catechism. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  authors  to  whom  I 
have  so  often  referred  speak  of  our  receiving  the  very 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORDS  SUPPER.      381 

body  and  blood  of  Christ  into  our  bodies^  as  well  as  into 
our  souls,  commingling  and  co-uniting  with  them,  and 
preserving  both  for  incorruption.  Now,  see  how  differ- 
ent this  is  from  the  teaching  of  our  Catechism.  In  de- 
fining '■'■the  benefits''''  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  it  says,  they 
consist  in  "  strengthening  and  refreshing  our  souls  by 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  as  our  bodies  are  by  the 
bread  and  wine."  Here  is  nothing  about  receiving  the 
very  body  and  blood  of  Christ  into  even  our  souls,  com- 
mingling and  co-uniting  with  them,  and  making  them 
one  flesh  and  blood  with  Christ.  The  simple  idea  is 
that  of  "the  strengthening  and  refreshing  of  our  souls 
by  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,"  "  spiritually  taken  and 
received  hy  faith.  Faith  receives  them,  and  the  soul  is 
thereby  strengthened  and  refreshed.  But  the  principal 
point  in  my  intended  remark  is  this :  the  Catechism  is 
an  utter  stranger  to  the  absurd  notion  that  the  very  flesh 
and  blood  of  Christ  are  received  into  our  bodies  as  well 
as  into  our  souls,  commingling  and  co-uniting  with  their 
substance,  and  preserving  it  for  incorruption  by  imbu- 
ing it  with  the  principle  of  immortality  !  This  is  but  a 
part  of  the  general  figment  of  the  theory  of  a  real  pres- 
ence. The  Catechism  leaves  our  bodies,  after  and  not- 
withstanding all  the  sacraments  which  they  shall  have 
received,  heirs  to  their  natural  corruption,  to  be  raised 
at  the  last  day  and  made  co-inheritors  of  life  with  our 
souls,  not  by  any  principle  of  immortality  which  they 
had  carried  with  them  from  the  sacraments  into  the 
grave,  but  by  the  almighty  power  of  God  on  that  morn- 
ing of  eternal  wonders. 

I  resume  now  the  idea  of  the  Lord's  Supper  as  a 
means  of  grace  to  our  souls. 

The  spiritual  benefits,  then,  of  this  ordinance  come 
through  faith  in  Christ  crucified,  in  that  atoning  sacri- 
fice in  which  His  body  and  blood  were  offered  up  to 


382      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

God  on  the  cross,  and  through  the  blessing  which  the 
Holy  Spirit  sheds  on  those  peculiar  helps  under  which 
faith  then  looks  upon  that  sacrifice. 

When  promising  to  His  disciples  the  Comforter,  who 
should  be  with  them  during  His  bodily  absence  from  the 
Church,  Christ  uses  these  important  words  :  "  He  shall 
glorify  me  ;  for  He  shall  receive  of  mine,  and  shall  show 
it  unto  you," — John,  xvi.,  14-.  Such  being  the  office  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  He  takes  this  memorial  as  one  of  "the 
things  of  Christ,"  and  '■'■shows  it"  to  the  Christian's 
mind.  He  shows  how  it  represents  the  death  of  Christ 
for  the  sins  of  men.  He  makes  plain,  through  its  sym- 
bol, the  precious  truth  and  efficacy  of  the  atonement. 
And  thus  he  "  glorifies"  Christ  in  the  sacrament  which 
Christ  hath  ordained.  Through  His  blessing,  the  em- 
blems in  the  sacrament  become  not  only  significant, 
but  affectingl'y  and  sanctifyingly  significant.  The  great 
truths  and  realities  which  they  represent,  find  the  Christ- 
ian's heart,  through  His  gracious  influences,  specially 
prepared  for  the  touching  and  moving  contemplation  of 
those  truths  and  realities.  And  thus,  while  his  devout 
soul  regards,  by  faith,  the  whole  sacred  memorial  be- 
fore it,  his  love  as  well  as  his  faith,  his  humility  and  his 
hope,  his  courage  and  his  zeal,  his  apprehension  of  Di- 
vine things  and  his  relish  for  Divine  fellowship,  his 
deadness  to  earth  and  his  longings  after  heaven,  are 
mightily  quickened,  and  his  whole  inner  man  power- 
fully "  strengthened  and  refreshed"  by  his  view  of  the 
body  and  blood  of  Christ,  and  of  that  Divine  work  of 
redemption  in  which  they  were  offered  a  sacrifice. 

From  what  I  have  now  said,  we  see  that  the  Lord's 
Supper  becomes  a  means  of  grace  on  the  same  principle 
with  that  on  which  preaching  or  the  reading  of  the 
Word  becomes  a  means  of  grace  ;  that  is,  through  the 
blessing  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the   exercise  of  faith. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORu's  SUPPER.      383 

This  Divine  Agent  acts,  not  tiirough  the  substance  of 
the  bread  and  wine,  but  through  the  truths  and  realities 
which  they  so  affectingly  symbolize.  Those  sacred 
symbols  are  designed  to  aid  the  Christian,  through  the 
influences  of  the  Spirit,  more  touchingly  and  more  mov- 
ingly to  realize  and  receive  the  whole  body  of  truths 
concerning  the  death  and  sacrifice  of  Christ  for  his  sins. 

The  great  difference  between  this  sacrament  and 
preaching  as  means  of  grace  consists  in  this.  The  sac- 
rament takes  up  mainly  those  truths  which  respect  the 
work  of  Christ  upon  the  cross;  and  these  truths  it  pre- 
sents, through  the  blessing  of  the  Spirit,  with  unwonted 
vividness,  and,  therefore,  with  unwonted  effect,  to  the 
specially-prepared  minds  of  Christian  communicants 
only.  But  preaching  is  designed  to  take  up  all  the 
truths  of  Divine  Revelation,  and  to  present  them  all, 
through  the  blessing  of  the  same  Spirit,  to  all  classes  of 
hearers,  and  under  all  the  circumstances  of  life ;  for  their 
conversion  as  well  as  for  their  sanctification ;  for  their 
direction  in  all  duty,  and  for  their  support  under  all  tri- 
als ;  for  their  light  in  all  darkness,  and  for  their  com- 
fort in  all  sorrows. 

But,  whether  in  the  sacrament  or  in  preaching,  the 
Spirit  reaches  the  soul  in  the  same  way,  through  the 
Truth  which  He  presents,  and  not  through  the  material 
elements  in  the  sacrament,  nor  through  the  living  man 
in  preaching.  To  suppose  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ 
really  present  in  the  Eucharist,  and  really  conveyed 
with  its  elements,  does  not,  as  is  urged,  make  the  ordi- 
nance more  full,  more  significant,  or  more  efficacious. 
It  does  but  burden  its  simplicity,  darken  its  meaning, 
and,  in  the  end,  pervert  its  operation.  Keep  the  ordi- 
nance pure,  simple.  Scriptural,  and  Christ  by  His  Spirit 
will  fill  it  with  something  better  than  His  mere  flesh 
and  blood ;  with  the  power  of  His  quickening,  purify- 
ing, strengthening,  and  refreshing  Truth ;  with  intelli- 


384  THE    NATURE    OF  THE    LORd's    SUPPER. 

gent  and  soul-cheering  views  of  His  cross  ;  and  with 
clear  and  enrapturing  visions  into  heaven.  He  will  fill 
it  with  His  Divine  presence,  as  the  heart-searching, 
heart-sanctifying  God.  He  will  fill  it  with  full  and  sat- 
isfying foretastes  of  that  eternal  life  which  He  came  to 
purchase  and  to  insure  for  every  humble  and  obedient 
believer  in  His  name.* 

In  addition  to  tlie  views  thus  far  given  of  this  ordi- 
nance, there  are  some  others,  upon  which,  however,  I 
shall  touch  more  briefly,  both  because  they  involve  no 
disputed  points,  and  because  some  of  them,  being  com- 
mon to  both  the  Christian  sacraments,  have  already  been 
exhibited  when  treating  of  baptism. 

4.  I  say,  then,  the  Lord's  Supper  is  a  divinely-ordain- 
ad  test  of  men's  obedience  to  Christ. 

"  This  do  in  remembrance  of  me."  Such  is  Christ's 
command  ;  and  it  is  as  obligatory  on  those  to  whom  it 
is  addressed  as  any  other  precept  in  the  Bible  ;  not  as 
founded  on  the  same  reasons,  but  as  coming  from  the 
same  authority.  Other  commands  bind  to  instant  obe- 
dience, without  any  previous  preparatory  process.  Such 
are  the  commands  to  "  love  God  supremely,  and  our 
neighbor  as  ourselves;"  and  to  have  "repentance  to- 
ward God,  and  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 
But  this  binds  to  obedience  as  the  result  of  a  previous 
preparatory  process.  In  other  words,  Christ  does  not 
command  us  to  partake  of  His  Supper  before  we  have 
true  repentance  and  faith  ;  but,  being  always  under  ob- 

*  It  is  really  astonishing  that  the  writers  of  the  school  to  which  I  have 
so  often  referred  should  be  so  ready  as  they  are  to  admit  the  superior  full- 
ness of  the  privileges  which  Rome  retains  and  enjoys  in  this  sacrament ; 
and  to  mourn  over  the  meager  portion  which  we,  and  those  of  the  Anglican 
Church  who  agree  with  us,  have  gathered  and  brought  with  us  in  our 
wicked  act  of  separating  from  that  more  favored  communion !  All  that 
Rome  retains,  over  and  above  these  Scriptural  views  of  the  sacrament,  is 
but  darkness,  putting  out  the  light  of  truth,  and  corruption,  bringing  death 
into  the  place  of  life. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORDS  SUPPER.      385 

ligation  to  repent  and  believe,  He  requires  us,  when  pen- 
itent and  believing,  to  express  our  allegiance  to  Him  in 
this  high  symbolic  act.  Inasmuch,  however,  as  all 
are  under  obligation  to  repent  and  believe,  there  is  a 
sense  in  which  all  are  under  obligation  thus  to  remem- 
ber Christ  in  His  holy  Supper.  Christ  claims  obedience 
as  well  as  love  and  faith  j  and  this  ordinance  is  a  test  of 
our  obedience,  as  well  as  a  symbol  to  our  love  and  faith. 
If  men  have  the  temper  of  obedience  to  Christ,  that  per- 
haps best  proof  of  love  for  Him,  and  even  of  faith  in 
Him,  they  will  approach  His  sacred  feast,  and  manifest 
that  temper  before  the  world.  But  if  they  have  it  not, 
or  if  shame,  or  the  fear  of  man,  or  the  love  of  the 
world  come  into  conflict  with  their  rising  reverence  for 
their  Savior's  behest,  and  finally  overmaster  a  senti- 
ment which  had  else  grown  into  a  settled  principle  of 
obedience,  they  will  refuse  to  approach  that  Supper, 
and  will  thus  manifest,  before  heaven  and  earth,  their 
disobedience  to  the  Divine  Savior  of  men.  Christ,  it  is 
true,  needs  not  this  test  to  show  Him  who  are  obedient 
and  who  are  disobedient ;  seeing  that,  as  the  Searcher 
of  hearts,  "He  knoweth  what  is  in  man:"  but  He  de- 
signs by  this  test  to  show  us,  the  Church,  and  the 
world,  whether  we  cherish  the  one  or  the  other  of  these 
tempers,  and  thus  to  make  it  evident  "  what  manner  of 
spirit  we  are  of."  He  has  left  this  ordinance  in  His 
Church  as,  on  the  whole,  a  faithful  visible  "  detecter  of 
the  hearts"  of  men.  He  seeks  by  it  to  reveal  them  to 
themselves  as  they  stand  revealed  to  Him ;  and  thus  to 
bring  them,  if  possible,  by  repentance  to  God,  and  by 
faith  to  the  cross. 

5.  Again :  the  Lord's  Supper  is,  with  baptism,  one  of 

the  visible  badges  by  which  the  disciples  of  Christ  are 

distinguishable  from  the  world,  and  held  amenable  to 

the  divinely-instituted  laws  of  discipline  in  the  Church. 

K  K 


386  THE    NATURE    OP   THE    LORD^S   SUTPER. 

When  once  baptized,  we  can  never  become  unbap" 
tized ;  but,  when  once  admitted  to  the  Lord's  Supper, 
we  may  be  cut  off  from  farther  fellowship  in  that  Di- 
vine symbol.  Nor  is  such  an  excision  a  light  thing* 
On  the  contrary,  as  to  be  admitted  to  this  sacrament  is 
the  highest  outward  privilege  which  we  can  enjoy  on 
earth,  so,  to  be  cut  off  from  it,  is  the  highest  of  earth- 
ly deprivations.  By  our  admission  to  this  privilege,  we 
have  applied  to  us  the  highest  visible  seal  of  the  truth 
of  Christ's  precious  promise  of  pardon  and  eternal  life? 
by  our  excision  from  it,  we  are  declared  unfit,  not  only 
for  the  seal  itself,  but  also  for  the  mercy  which,  to  the 
true  Christian,  it  guaranties.  By  the  one,  we  are  brought 
into  the  highest  company  of  Christ's  spiritual  followers  ; 
by  the  other,  we  are  shut  out  amid  the  society  of  all  the 
servants  of  sin  and  the  world.  By  the  former,  we  are 
encircled,  in  all  their  plenitude  and  perfection,  with  that 
whole  system  of  outward  means  which  God  hath  so 
graciously  and  so  wisely  devised  for  strengthening  and 
embellishing  our  Christian  characters  in  all  the  graces 
and  beauties  of  the  heavenly  life ;  and  by  the  latter,  we  are 
placed  without  this  circle  of  blessings,  and  separated 
from  the  action  of  those  influences  with  which  that  cir- 
cle is  filled  ;  and  in  this  condition  are  left  once  more, 
with  the  choice  of  life  and  death  still  before  us,  indeed, 
but  exposed,  in  again  making  that  choice,  to  all  the  op- 
posing enmities  and  oppositions,  and  to  all  the  perilous- 
ly counteracting  crafts  and  subtleties  of  the  world,  the 
flesh,  and  the  devil. 

This  view  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  one  of  the  visible 
badges  of  Christ's  disciples,  is  extremely  important. 
Without  such  a  badge,  the  Church  would  be  deprived 
of  her  most  effective  means  of  discipline,  and  exposed, 
without  the  possibility  of  purification,  to  even  deeper 
corruptions  than  have  ever  yet  defiled  her. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      387 

This  means  of  discipline  has,  it  is  true,  like  all  other 
good  things,  been  abused.  In  those  ages  when  spirit- 
ual despotism  ruled  without  restraint,  even  kings  and 
their  kingdoms  have  been  made  to  tremble  and  bow 
down  under  the  awful  terrors  of  the  Church's  interdict. 
But  those  ages  are  passed.  The  rod  of  terror,  which 
abuse  of  power  had  put  into  the  hands  of  spiritual  ty- 
rants, has  been  broken ;  and,  so  far  at  least  as  we  are 
concerned,  has  left  in  its  stead  nothing  but  the  emblem 
of  holy  authority,  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  spiritual  pa- 
rent, to  be  used  for  the  benefit  only  of  even  her  unwor- 
thy children.  In  this  character,  it  were  devoutly  to  be 
wished  that  it  were  more  frequently,  as  it  might  then 
be  more  salutarily  used.  Discipline  among  us  is  plain- 
ly in  a  state  of  decay  ;  and  our  Church  harbors  in  her 
bosom  many  who,  both  for  her  benefit  and  their  own^ 
should  be  cast  out,  and  received  no  more  to  her  holy 
feast  till  they  can  come  back  robed  in  the  white  gar- 
ments of  most  humble  repentance,  and  shining  in  the 
evident  graces  of  a  heart-purifying  faith. 

6.  And,  finally,  the  Lord's  Supper,  in  common,  also, 
with  baptism,  carries  with  it  the  evidence  of  a  moral  mon- 
ument  to  the  truth  and  Divine  origin  of  Christianity,  and 
to  the  identity  of  the  Church  through  all  ages. 

This  point,  however,  having  been  sufficiently  illus- 
trated when  treating  of  baptism,  I  shall  not  here  repeat 
the  illustration.  I  recur  to  it  only  for  the  purpose  of 
noticing  the  connection  which  this  evidence  has  with 
the  ordinance  that  has  now  been  examined ;  and  of  say- 
ing, once  more,  that  this  evidence  is  of  the  highest 
value.  The  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  a  sim- 
ple memorial  of  the  death  of  Christ,  is  one  of  the  bright 
links  in  that  infrangible  chain  which  binds  the  Gospel  and 
the  Church  to  the  throne  of  God.  Every  time  we  go  to 
the  Lord's  Supper,  we  do,  in  effect,  make  a  spiritual  pil- 
grimage across  the  wide  desert  of  Time ;  a  pilgrimage 


388  THE    NATURE    OF    THE    LORd's    SUPPER. 

which  ends  in  bringing  us  out  upon  that  holy  ground 
whereon  "  the  Son  of  Man"  was  crucified  for  our  sins  j 
and  which  leaves  us  kneeling  there,  where  myriads 
have  knelt  before  us,  with  adoring  hearts,  around  that 
sublime  and  imperishable  monument  erected  on  the 
triple  plinth  of  the  fact,  the  date,  and  the  meaning  of 
Christ's  atoning  sacrifice ! 

The  views  which  have  now  been  given  of  the  nature 
of  the  Lord's  Supper  are  in  sufficiently  full  accord  with 
those  given  in  our  Articles. 

"  The  Lord's  Supper  is  not  only  a  sign  of  the  love 
that  Christians  ought  to  have  among  themselves,  one  to 
another,  but  rather  it  is  a  sacrament  of  our  redemption 
by  Christ's  death ;  insomuch  that,  to  such  as  rightly, 
worthily,  and  with  faith  receive  the  same,  the  bread 
which  we  break  is  a  partaking  of  the  body  of  Christ ; 
and,  likewise,  the  cup  of  blessing  is  a  partaking  of  the 
blood  of  Christ."  .  .  .  .  "  The  body  of  Christ  is  given, 
taken,  and  eaten  in  the  Supper,  only  after  a  heavenly 
and  spiritual  manner.  And  the  mean  whereby  the  body 
of  Christ  is  received  and  eaten  in  the  Supper  is  faith."* 

Again  :  "  Sacraments,  ordained  of  Christ,  be  not  only 
badges,  or  tokens  of  Christian  men's  profession,  but 
rather  they  be  certain  sure  witnesses  and  effectual 
signs  of  grace  and  God's  good-will  toward  us,  by  the 
which  He  doth  work  invisibly  in  us,  and  doth  not  only 
quicken,  but  also  strengthen  and  confirm  our  faith  in 
Him."t 

Upon  these  definitions  from  the  Articles,  it  will  not, 
after  what  has  been  said,  be  necessary  long  to  dwell. 
It  will  be  sufficient  to  say,  that  the  nature  of  the  Eu- 
charist, as  love's  memorial,  is  referred  to  in  the  words, 
"  Sacrament  of  our  redemption  by  Christ's  death,"  and 
"  sign  of  grace  and  God's  good- will  toward  us  ;"  that  its 
character,  as  faitKs  mirror  of  the  sacrifice  on  the  cross, 
*  Art.  xxviii.  t  Art*  xxv. 


THE   NATURE    OF  THE    LORD's   SUPPER.  389 

is  distinctly  indicated  in  the  phrase,  "insomuch. that,  to 
such  as  rightly,  worthily,  and  Avith  faith  receive  the 
same,  the  bread  which  we  break  is  a  partaking  of  the 
body  of  Christ  5  and,  likewise,  the  cup  of  blessing  is  a 
partaking  of  the  blood  of  Christ ;"  that  its  character,  as 
a  means  of  grace,  is  fully  asserted  in  the  expression,  "  ef- 
fectual signs  of  grace,  and  God's  good-will  toward  us, 
by  the  which  He  doth  work  invisibly  in  us,  and  doth 
not  only  quicken,  but  also  strengthen  and  confirm  our 
faith  in  Him  ;"  that  its  character,  as  a  test  of  obedience 
to  Christ,  and  also  as  a  badge  of  discipleship  under  Him, 
is  intimated  in  the  single  phrase,  "  badges  or  tokens  of 
Christian  men's  profession ;"  and  that,  finally,  its  char- 
acter, as  imbodying  the  evidence  of  a  moral  monument, 
&c.,  is  apparently  expressed  in  the  terms,  "certain  sure 
witnesses'^  ..."  of  grace  and  God's  good-will  toward 
us  ;"  while,  from  the  whole,  the  doctrine  of  the  real 
presence  is  excluded,  not  only  by  the  omission  of  the 
terms,  but  also  by  the  introduction  of  a  clause  evident- 
ly designed  to  guard  against  the  idea;  "the  body  of 
Christ  is  given,  taken,  and  eaten  in  the  Supper  only 
after  a  heavenly  and  spiritual  manner.  And  the  mean 
whereby  the  body  of  Christ  is  received  and  eaten  in  the 
Supper,  is  faith.^^  In  the  sacrament, /aM  takes  the  soul 
away  from  the  memorial,  the  symbol,  and  the  sign,  to  the 
cross,  to  the  throne,  to  the  Crucified,  and  the  Glorified ; 
and  there,  through  its  rapturous  vision,  feeds  the  soul 
on  the  merits,  the  benefits,  the  life  of  our  great  Sacrifice ; 
of  Him  "  that  liveth  and  was  dead,  and  is  now  alive 
forevermore."  Thus,  in  "  a  heavenly  and  spiritual  man- 
ner," through  "  the  mean"  of  "'•faith,^^  do  we  eat  the 
body  and  drink  the  blood  of  Christ ;  and  thus  do  the 
bread  and  the  cup  of  blessing  prove,  to  the  "  worthy^^ 
recipient,  effectual  signs  of  "grace  and  God's  good- will 
toward  us,  by  the  which  He  doth  work  invisibly  in  us, 
Kk3 


390      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORD's  SUPPER. 

and  doth  not   only  quicken,"  where  it  already  exists, 
"  but  also  strengthen  and  confirm  our  faith  in  Him." 

When  treating  of  baptism,  I  remarked  that  we  may 
reject  the  theory  of  baptismal  regeneration,  as  it  has  all 
along  been  in  view,  and  yet  leave  the  ordinance  all  that 
Christ  intended  it  should  be.  I  trust  it  has  now  been 
seen  that  we  may,  in  like  manner,  reject  the  dogma  of 
the  real  presence,  and  yet  leave  the  Lord's  Supper  all 
that  Christ  intended  to  make  it  by  His  instituting  words. 
Certainly,  after  such  a  rejection,  we  leave  the  ordinance 
invested  with  all  the  attributes  that  I  can  discover  for 
it,  whether  in  the  Bible  or  in  the  standards  of  our 
Church  5  and  I  know  not  that  I  can  close  the  whole  ex 
amination  better  than  by  adapting  to  this  part  of  the 
subject  the  language  with  which  I  prepared  to  close  the 
views  formerly  taken  of  baptism. 

In  what  I  have  said,  then,  upon  the  Lord's  Supper, 
'  I  have  shown  that  the  view  which  I  have  taken  of  this 
ordinance  is  at  least  all  that  the  Bible  and  our  Church, 
in  her  chief  standards  of  doctrine,  make  it ;  and  that, 
therefore,  the  Bible  and  our  standards  being  guide,  we 
may  reject  the  doctrine  of  the  real  presence,  as  it  has 
been  exhibited  from  the  writings  of  its  advocates,  with- 
out leaving  this  high  Christian  ordinance  stripped  of  its 
solemnity  and  importance,  a  mere  soulless,  lifeless 
form  of  what  Christ  intended  should  be  instinct  with 
mysterious  and  awful  power.  In  fact,  the  view  which 
has  been  taken  of  this  ordinance,  while  it  is  scriptural 
and  simple,  is,  for  that  very  reason,  essential  to  its  true 
beauty,  value,  and  efficacy.  To  burden  it  with  the 
thick  covering  of  the  theory  of  the  real  presence,  how 
ever  reverend  and  awful  the  robes  in  which  it  is  tKns 
designed  to  dress  it,  is  but  to  disfigure  Divine  beauty, 
simplicity,  and  life,  with  what,  in  fact,  robs  them  of  much, 
if  not  all,  of  the  salutary  power  which  they  were  de- 
signed to  exert.    Disencumbered,  and  left  as  Christ  left 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORD's  SUPPER.      391 

it,  and  as  our  Church  finds  it  in  the  Bible,  the  Lord's 
Supper  commends  itself  alike  to  the  Christian's  highest 
esteem,  and  to  his  most  reverential  affection,  as  every 
way  worthy  of  its  Divine  Institutor,  and  of  the  Divine 
end  which,  in  its  institution,  He  contemplated.' 

It  is  not  because  I  wish  to  take  from  it  the  smallest 
portion  of  its  true  value,  or  to  lessen,  in  the  smallest 
degree,  the  reverence  which  the  most  devout  Christian 
should  feel  for  it,  as  "  the  sacrament  of  his  redemption 
by  the  death  of  Christ,"  that  I  have  so  earnestly  urged 
the  views  presented  (for  I  would  as  soon  seek  to  put 
Christ  out  of  his  own  Gospel,  as  I  would  to  put  his  inten- 
tion out  of  his  own  ordinance)  j  but  because  I  wish  to 
separate  from  our  apprehensions  of  this  ordinance  a 
feature  which,  I  am  most  thoroughly  persuaded,  does 
not  belong  to  it  5  and  which,  I  am  as  thoroughly  per- 
suaded, can  never  be  supposed  to  belong  to  it,  without 
exposing  the  Church  to  the  gradual,  but  certain  intro- 
duction of  corruptions  the  most  dangerous,  and  of  su- 
perstitions the  most  pernicious.  It  does  seem  to  me 
that  we  must  be  blind  to  the  teachings  of  all  Church 
history  for  the  last  eighteen  hundred  years,  before  we 
can  put  out  of  sight  the  truth,  that  the  two  doctrines 
which  I  have  opposed,  and  in  the  forms  under  which  I 
have  opposed  them — baptismal  regeneration,  and  the 
real  presence — have  been  copious  spring-heads  to  some 
of  the  worst  corruptions,  and  to  some  of  the  worst  su- 
perstitions, by  which  the  beautiful  and  simple  form  of 
Scriptural  Christianity  has  ever  been  marred. 

The  sum  of  what,  in  the  present  treatise,  has  been 
said,  is  this.  The  sole  end  of  God,  in  all  His  gracious 
dealings  with  us,  is  the  renewal  and  sanctification  of 
our  sinful  natures  :  the  sole  agent  of  this  necessary 
change  is  the  Holy  Spirit:  the  sole  instrument  which 
the  Spirit  uses  in  this  work  is  Divine  Truth  :  while  both 
preaching  and  the  sacraments  are  but  channels  of  equal- 


392      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

ly  Divine  appointment,  through  which,  in  their  proper 
places,  order,  and  degree,  that  Spirit  pours  the  energy 
of  truth,  in  all  its  renewing  and  sanctifying  light,  upon 
waiting,  inquiring,  and  obedient  minds. 

Keep  these  principles  in  view,  and  the  Church  will  be 
to  us  full  of  life,  and  the  way  along  which  she  conducts 
us  to  heaven  luminous  with  safety.  Lose  sight  of  these 
principles,  and  the  Church  herself  is  in  danger  of  becom- 
ing but  a  body  of  death ;  and  the  way  along  which  she 
leads  us  begins  to  be  overhung  with  the  darkness  of 
error,  superstition,  and  fearful  peril  to  our  souls. 

The  Bible,  as  a  book  of  Divine  truths,  has  been  given  to 
be  the  instrument  of  purifying  a  "  world  lying  in  wick- 
edness." In  this,  its  purifying  work,  it  has  been  cast,  as 
a  sacred  leaven,  into  the  mighty  lump,  carrying  with  it, 
as  forms  through  which  the  Spirit  ordinarily  operates, 
the  Church,  its  ministry,  and  its  ordinances.  In  the  fer- 
ment which  has  followed  this  gift  of  God  to  man,  light 
has  mixed  with  darkness,  truth  with  error,  and  pure  reli- 
gion with  defiling  superstition.  During  this  fearful  con- 
flict,  darkness,  error,  superstition,  have  seemed,  for  long 
ages,  victorious ;  and  light,  truth,  pure  religion,  have 
at  times  appeared  not  only  vanquished,  but  almost  ex- 
tinct. Nevertheless,  in  the  written  form  which  God  has 
given  to  His  Word,  and  in  the  wondrous  Providence 
with  which  He  has  watched  over  its  integrity^  He  has 
given  perpetual  security  to  this  instrument  of  a  final 
triumph  in  favor  of  Himself  and  His  cause.  What  has 
appeared  so  often  worsted  in  the  conflict  has  not  been, 
in  reality,  the  Word  of  Truth  itself,  but  only  those  em- 
anations from  itself  which,  by  the  power  of  the  Spirit, 
have  gone  out  for  leaven,  for  mixture,  for  operation, 
through  the  great  mass  of  surrounding  evil.  In  itself 
it  has  ever  remained,  on  the  whole,  incorrupt ;  giving 
forth  its  power  ;  maintaining  the  ferment  of  good  in  the 
midst  of  evil ;  and  preparing  the  way  for  the  time  when. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER.      393 

the  whole  lump  being  leavened,  truth  shall  every  where 
prevail,  the  world  yield  to  its  sway,  and  all  human 
things  settle  down  into  the  unfermenting  calm  of  light, 
and  peace,  and  love,  under  Jesus,  the  spiritual  king  of 
all  the  earth. 

In  this  great  warfare  of  good  with  evil,  the  Church, 
though  often  deeply  corrupted  with  error  and  supersti- 
tion, has  yet,  on  the  whole,  been  the  visible  medium  for 
diffusing  the  powerful  truths  of  the  Bible  ;  and  the  time, 
it  may  be  believed,  will  come,  when,  free  from  all  cor- 
ruption, her  influence  shall  be  felt  as  simply  benign  ; 
when  she  shall  become  a  widening  circle  of  lights,  ra- 
diating truth  only  from  Christ,  her  centre,  through  the 
ministry,  whom  his  right  hand  upholds  ;  and  when  all 
her  ordinances,  as  included  among  those  "  mysteries  of 
God"  which  have  been  committed  to  her  stewardship, 
will  be  seen  to  operate,  not  in  the  darkly  confounding 
prodigies  of  alleged  perpetual  miracle,  but  in  the  simple 
richness  of  that  light  of  knowledge  and  of  life  which, 
as  through  all  her  ministries,  so  also  through  her  signs 
and  symbols,  shineth  down  from  her  glorified  and  all 
knowing  Head. 

That  her  symbols  are  mysteries  in  this  sense  only,  the 
present  treatise  has  attempted  to  show.  They  are  not 
such  symbols  as  carry  in  themselves  a  perpetual  incar- 
nation of  Christ ;  but  only  such  symbols  as  collect  and 
pour  forth  the  powerful  and  sanctifying  light,  where- 
with the  Spirit  seeks  to  glorify  Him. 

An  illustration,  just  used,  carries  the  mind  back  to 
one  grand  symbol  which,  though  not  in  the  form  of  a 
sacrament,  has  yet  been  left  on  record,  and  from  which 
somewhat  may  be  gathered  not  inappropriate  to  the 
subject  at  this  its  closing  stage.  It  was  given  in  the 
vision  with  which  the  evangelist  of  the  Apocalypse  was 
favored  on  the  Isle  of  Patmos. 


394      THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORD  S  SUPPER. 

"  In  the  Spirit  on  the  Lord's  Day,"  he  "  heard  a  great 
voice;"  and,  turning  "to  see  the  voice,  which  spake  with" 
him,  he  "  saw  seven  golden  candlesticks,  and,  in  the  midst  of 
the  seven  candlesticks,  one  like  the  Son  of  Man,  clothed  with 
a  garment  down  to  the  foot,  and  girt  about  the  paps  with  a 
golden  girdle.  His  head  and  hairs  were  white  like  wool, 
as  white  as  snow  ;  and  his  eyes  as  a  flame  of  fire  ;  and  his 
feet  like  unto  fine  brass,  as  if  they  burned  in  a  furnace  ;  and 
his  voice  as  the  sound  of  many  waters :  and  he  had  in  his 
right  hand  seven  stars :  and  out  of  his  mouth  went  a  two- 
edged  sword  :  and  his  countenance  was  as  the  sun  shineth 
in  his  strength." — Rev.,  i.,  9-16. 

There  was,  indeed,  a  glorious  symbol ;  a  truly  evangelic 
mystery  ;  "  the  mystery  of  the  seven  stars,  and  of  the  seven 
golden  candlesticks  ;"  with  him  in  the  midst,  who  was  "  like 
unto  the  Son  of  Man."  It  was  a  "  mystery"  full  of  voice, 
full  of  light ;  and  He  who  filled  it  was  girt  in  the  robe  and 
golden  zone  of  Divine  beauty  and  gracefulness.  It  was  full 
of  voice  for  teaching,  and  of  light  for  illumination  ;  and  the 
garment  which  was  girt  there  was  as  a  v.esture  of  righteous- 
ness, zoned  with  truth.  Its  voice  was  as  "  many  waters" 
for  sounding  forth,  and  as  "  a  two-edged  sword"  for  piercing ; 
its  light  was  as  a  flame  of  fire  for  searching,  and  as  the  sun 
in  his  strength  for  shedding  perfect  day  ;  and  its  garment 
was  as  holiness  for  an  enrobing  glory,  and  as  truth  for  a 
girdle  of  gracious  beauty. 

Such  was  the  wondrous  symbol  in  its  dress :  one  like 
unto  the  Son  of  Man,  standing  in  the  midst  of  seven  golden 
candlesticks,  and  holding  in  his  hand  seven  shining  stars  ; 
more  glorious  in  array  than  words  could  describe,  and  more 
powerful  for  operation  than  thought  could  conceive.  What, 
then,  was  the  symbol  in  its  signification  ?  Not  Christ's 
flesh  and  blood  commingled  and  co-united  with  the  bodies 
and  souls  of  individual  Christians,  effecting  thus  a  perpetu- 
al and  living  incarnation  of  Himself;  but  Christ,  showing 
his  relation  to  his  light-bearing  churches,  and  to  those  true 


THE    NATURE   OF  THE    LORd's    SUPPER.  395 

ministers,  whom  He  upholds  with  his  right  hand,  and  who, 
as  starry  lights,  catch  and  cast  forth,  through  His  churches 
upon  the  world,  his  own  glorious  effulgence  of  saving  truth 
and  life.  "  The  seven  stars,"  said  the  interpreting  form,  in 
the  very  idiom  of  Christ's  native  tongue  as  He  spake  on 
earth,  "  the  seven  stars  are  (represent)  the  angels  of  the  sev- 
en churches  ;  and  the  seven  candlesticks  are  (represent)  the 
seven  churches."  This,  then,  was  not  Christ  incarnate  in 
a  darkly  incomprehensible  symbol ;  but  it  was  the  most 
gorgeously  luminous  symbol  ever  conceived  of  Christ  and 
his  churches  ;  of  Christ  upholding  His  true  ministers  with 
His  right  hand ;  speaking  through  them  His  two-edged 
Word  of  life,  in  sounds  terribly  piercing  to  the  sinner,  and 
affectingly  solemn  to  the  saint ;  and  casting,  through  them 
on  the  churches,  and  through  the  churches  on  the  wide 
world,  the  effulgent  daylight  of  His  own  saving  truth. 

This  was  "  the  mystery,"  the  meaning,  of  the  symbol.  It 
was  a  mystery,  not  because  it  was  incomprehensible,  but  be- 
cause it  was  rich  in  a  meaning  designed  to  be  understood, 
and  luminously  intelligible  the  moment  the  word  of  interpret- 
ation was  spoken.  As  the  language  of  Christ,  "  This  is 
my  body,"  "  This  is  my  blood,"  was  really  interpreting 
language,  making  plain  what  was  intended  to  be  understood, 
the  symbolic  mystery  of  his  acts  in  breaking  and  blessing 
the  bread  and  the  wine ;  so,  the  words,  "  The  seven  stars 
are  the  angels  of  the  seven  churches  ;  and  the  seven  golden 
candlesticks  are  the  seven  churches,"  were  truly  interpret- 
ing words,  making  perfectly  plain  what  was  designed  to  be 
comprehended,  the  grand  symbolic  mystery  which  opens  the 
Apocalypse. 

In  this  symbolic  mystery,  Christ  sets  forth  to  all  ages  the 
relation  which  he  holds  to  his  Church,  as  one  whole,  com- 
posed of  many  branches  ;  exhibiting  Himself  as  the  source 
and  upholder  of  its  ministry  ;  the  source  and  dispenser  of  its 
light ;  its  centrally  supreme  and  governing  Head,  directing  its 
movements  in  the  divinely  merciful  work  of  slaying  sin,  and 


396     THE  NATURE  OF  THE  LORd's  SUPPER. 

of  spreading  both  the  light  of  truth  and  the  garment  of  holi- 
ness over  all  the  earth.  And  this  relation  of  Christ  to  His 
Church,  this  agency  of  Christ  through  His  Church,  must  be- 
come  more  and  more  perfectly  apprehended  and  appreciated. 
His  Church  must  carry  less  and  less  of  the  darkness  of  super' 
stitious  mystery,  and  more  and  more  of  the  light  of  evangelic 
mystery  ;  till  finally,  what  was  represented  to  the  Lesser 
Asia  by  the  mystic  circle  of  the  seven  golden  candlesticks, 
with  their  accompanying  seven  shining  stars,  shall  have 
widened  and  thrown  its  circumference  around  the  globe  ;  be- 
coming thus  the  One  Church  of  all  lands,  and,  with  its  num- 
berless stellar  angels,  making  universal  the  light  both  of  the 
knowledge  and  of  the  love  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 
To  this  splendid  result  every  Christian,  but  especially 
every  Christian  minister,  however  humble  be  the  station  in 
which  he  is  placed,  should,  according  to  the  ability  and  the 
grace  given  to  him,  contribute  his  portion  ;  and  nothing  can 
absolve  him  from  the  sin  either  of  ceasing  to  shine  forth  in 
his  Master's  light,  or  of  turning  that  light  into  mere  radiating 
darkness.  Influenced  by  the  power  of  this  consideration, 
whoever,  in  the  spirit  of  teachableness,  humility,  and  prayer, 
seeks  to  gather  and  give  forth  light  from  Christ,  and,  in  this 
spirit  and  with  this  desire,  goes  to  the  Word  of  God,  and 
looks  at  Him,  who  appears  there  as  "  the  sun  shining  in 
his  strength,"  may  at  least  hope  to  be  kept  from  becom- 
ing the  unwilling  disseminator  of  error  instead  of  truth. 
Tremblingly,  yet  confidingly,  may  he  place  his  work  at  the 
feet  of  Him  who  standeth  in  the  midst  of  the  golden  candle- 
sticks, and  who  holdeth  in  his  right  hand  the  whole  constel- 
lation both  of  the  greater  and  of  the  lesser  lights ;  leaving 
his  labor  there  to  be  used  as  the  Infinite  in  wisdom  shall 
see  fit  to  use  it,  and  quieting  himself  with  the  thought  that, 
if  His  blessing  justify,  it  will  matter  little  who  may  condemn  ; 
while  if,  withholding  His  blessing,  He  condemn,  it  will  be 
of  no  avail,  though  thousands  attempt  to  justify  the  offering 
which  is  made. 


■:^'. 


Date  Due 

N:;    1  <A  ^^ 

f 

P  mceton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


012  0102- 


1953 


